Italian PM slams AI-generated images of herself

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni holds her annual start-of-the-year press conference in the press room at the Lower Chamber, in Rome, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has slammed fake images of herself generated by artificial intelligence, calling deepfakes a “dangerous tool” that can target and harm anyone.

The far-right leader posted on her social media accounts Tuesday one of the fake AI-generated photos she said had been circulating in recent days, showing the premier in scanty bedclothes.

“I have to admit that whoever created them, at least in the case attached, has actually made me look a lot better,” wrote Meloni in her post.

“Deepfakes are a dangerous tool, because they can deceive, manipulate and target anyone. I can defend myself. Many others cannot,” she said.

“Check before you believe, and believe before you share. Because today it’s happening to me; tomorrow it could happen to anyone.”

In her post, Meloni included a reply from a social media user who appeared to have been taken in by the photo, who wrote that the prime minister’s appearance in such attire was “shameful and unworthy of the institutional role she holds.”

Doctored sexualised images of the prime minister have surfaced before, particularly last year on a pornographic website that included altered images of high-profile women.

In response, the government passed a law that criminalised deepfakes that caused “unjust harm” to the person depicted.

In 2024, Meloni sued two men for 100,000 euros who produced fake videos of the premier which they then posted on a US pornographic website.

Female politicians around the world have increasingly become victims of such AI-generated deepfake pornography or sexualised images.