World3 min(s) read
Published 15:57 07 May 2026 GMT
Even world leaders are not immune to being targets of AI manipulation, as Italy’s prime minister shared deepfake images of herself in underwear.
Giorgia Meloni revealed on Tuesday, May 5, that she had been the target of “zealous opponents” who allegedly made a series of sexualized AI images of her.
Speaking out about the images, the prime minister first admitted that the deepfakes, which show her sitting on her bed in skimpy white pyjamas, were rather flattering.
Meloni said, “I must admit that whoever created them, at least in the attached case, has also improved me quite a bit.”
The populist Italian politician then issued a serious warning to social media users, urging them to be mindful of deepfakes, which were made illegal in Italy last year.
She said, “Deepfakes are a dangerous tool because they can deceive, manipulate, and strike anyone. I can defend myself. Many others cannot.
For this reason, one rule should always apply: verify before believing, and believe before sharing. Because today it happens to me, tomorrow it can happen to anyone.”
A few years ago, Meloni was subjected to another attack when images altered similarly appeared on a porn website that displayed deepfake sexualised images of other high-profile women.
In 2024, the leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy party sued two men for €100,000 for posting fake videos of her on a pornographic website in the US.
Shortly after the trial, Italy became the first country in Europe to make deepfakes illegal, passing a law against the use of artificial intelligence to cause harm, encompassing generating sexualized deepfakes.
The TAKE IT DOWN (Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks) Act was signed into law on May 19, 2025, to combat non-consensual intimate imagery and AI-generated deepfakes.
It established a major federal framework to prevent people from publishing fraudulent images and make the reporting and removal of them a simple process.
The act allows people to be convicted for posting and sharing deepfakes of minors and non-consenting adults.
James Strahler II, 37, was the first person to be convicted under the Take It Down Act. Last month, he pleaded guilty to cybercrimes involving both real and AI-generated images.
One of the materials he was prosecuted for was using AI to make a video of a victim engaging in sex acts with her own father.
