Overview
- Italy’s prime minister, who reposted a fake lingerie image Tuesday to show how deepfakes work, urged people to verify before believing and to stop sharing unvetted content.
- Meloni said the images were generated with artificial intelligence and suggested political opponents had circulated them to mislead the public.
- She stressed that public figures can push back but many people cannot, noting that convincing fake images can damage reputations and cause real harm.
- Commenters pressed her to report the case to police, though reports said it was unclear whether she would file a complaint.
- The episode follows a broader pattern: EU bodies are probing tech firms over tools that create fake nude images, Italy saw a fake-news surge around February’s justice referendum, and Meloni was previously listed as an injured party in a Sardinia deepfake case as her government made harmful deepfakes a crime.