New Delhi:\u00a0Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has spoken in a Facebook post criticising the widespread circulation of AI-generated deepfake images of herself, including one in lingerie.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn recent days, several fake images of me have been circulating, generated using artificial intelligence and passed off as real by some overzealous opponents. I must admit that whoever created them\u2026 even improved my appearance quite a bit,\u201d Meloni posted the image on her\u00a0official\u00a0Facebook account on\u00a05 May.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the fact remains that, in order to attack and spread falsehoods, people are now willing to use absolutely anything,\u201d\u00a0she added.<\/p>\n
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Meloni is shown dressed in lingerie while sitting on a bed; the prime minister captioned the photo \u201cfake photo generated with AI\u201d.<\/p>\n
In her statement, Meloni criticised such forms of bullying and warned about the consequences of a technology capable of misleading as well as harming individuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeepfakes are a dangerous tool, because they can deceive, manipulate and target anyone. I can defend myself. Many others cannot. For this reason, one rule should always apply: verify before believing, and think before sharing. Because today it happens to me, tomorrow it could happen to anyone,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
Such deepfake images, however, are not an isolated incident.<\/p>\n
In 2024, Meloni became one of the first women heads of government to pursue legal<\/a> action against producers of deepfake pornographic material using her likeness, testifying in a trial in Sardinia. The two men took images of Meloni and several other Italian women from social media and morphed them vulgarly. These images were then shared on a platform with more than 700,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n Following the incident, Italy took strict measures and became the first country to enact a law regulating AI usage. The law introduced prison terms up to five years\u00a0for anyone using deepfakes to cause harm. The law also prohibits children under the age of 14 from using AI without explicit parental consent.<\/p>\n Also Read:\u00a0AI-generated images are distorting India\u2019s military heroes. It\u2019s a desecration of memory<\/a><\/p>\n Weaponising AI images against women\u00a0<\/p>\n Meloni\u2019s case highlights the dangers of weaponising AI tools against women, especially women in power, to humiliate and discredit them.<\/p>\n The 2026 United Nations\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0also acknowledged the problem. It warned that women in public life are facing \u201cgrowing and increasingly sophisticated forms of online violence,\u201d with AI-assisted \u201cvirtual rape\u201d now within easy reach of perpetrators.<\/p>\n In the United States only, as per a 2024 report, there has been a\u00a0surge<\/a> of deepfake content especially against women members of Congress.<\/p>\n This act of perpetuating violence against women in public life has become a common practice in online spaces\u2014over 50 per cent of women in various regions are experiencing technology-facilitated abuse.<\/p>\n So far, women have been the most common target of deepfake imagery.\u00a0Male politicians are not threatened by smear campaigns or digital abuse. Even when they are targeted, the damage is usually reputational or policy-based, not designed to shame them through their bodies.<\/p>\n During her 2024 election campaign, Kamala Harris, the US Vice President and Presidential nominee, also faced\u00a0similar issues.\u00a0After her nomination, sexually explicit deepfake\u00a0images using her\u00a0likeness<\/a>\u00a0circulated online, including false \u201cdocumentary-style\u201d videos that fabricated sensational personal histories. The videos gained much traction, with some gaining a million views in a matter of hours.<\/p>\n These images and videos gained further credibility as Elon Musk and President Donald Trump shared them online, blurring the line between reality and fiction.<\/p>\n Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another US Democratic representative, spoke bluntly about the trauma of seeing herself in an AI-altered video.<\/p>\n