Italian PM Giorgia Meloni seeks ₹90.8 lakh in damages over deepfake porn videos

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has sought €100,000, roughly ₹ 90.8 lakh, in damages after deepfake porn video of her was uploaded online, BBC has reported.

Meloni has filed a defamation case against two men -- one aged 40 and his 73-year-old father -- after they allegedly created porn videos, placing Meloni's face on someone else's body before releasing them online.

According to Italian news agency ANSA, the deepfake videos, posted to a US-based website, have raked in millions of views. The Italian Prime Minister will testify in the defamation suit before a court in the Sardinian city of Sassarion on July 2.

A lawyer, representing Meloni, said that the damages sought by the prime minister are ‘symbolic’ and will support female victims of abuse, should she win the case.

In her complaint, Meloni said that she wanted to send a message to women victims of this kind of abuse of power to not be “afraid to press charges”, reported DPA, a German agency.

Some defamation suits, under Italian law, can be criminal, thereby carrying a custodial sentence.

The deepfake videos of Meloni surfaced online before she was appointed prime minister in 2022.

In recent years, deepfake has become a common issue on the internet, with several Indian actresses also being subjected to the same.