Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, is pursuing €100,000 (£85,374) in damages following the circulation of deepfake pornographic videos depicting her online.

Ms. Meloni is scheduled to provide testimony in front of a court in Sassari, Sardinia, on July 2.

A deepfake image is created by digitally superimposing the face of one person onto the body of another.

A 40-year-old individual, believed to be responsible for producing the videos, along with his 73-year-old father, are currently under investigation.

Law enforcement authorities managed to track down the perpetrators by tracing the mobile device used to upload the videos.

Both men face accusations of defamation. In Italy, certain defamation cases can lead to criminal charges and potential imprisonment.

The videos in question were reportedly uploaded to a pornographic website based in the United States, garnering millions of views over several months.

If her damages claim proves successful, Ms. Meloni intends to donate the awarded €100,000 to a fund supporting women who have suffered from male violence, as per her legal team.

Maria Giulia Marongiu, representing Ms. Meloni, described the sum as “symbolic,” emphasizing that the request for compensation aims to encourage other victims of such abuse of power to come forward without fear.

The deep-fake videos featuring Ms. Meloni date back to a period before her assumption of the prime ministerial office in 2022.

In recent times, deepfake pornography has proliferated across the internet, causing distress to its victims, who find themselves digitally manipulated into sexually explicit scenarios.