Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shares AI lingerie photo in warning to country

Sexualized deepfakes are becoming more and more of a problem across the globe, and it seems even prime ministers aren’t immune.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni shared to X that she had been targeted by ‘zealous opponents’ in a series of sexualized deepfakes.

The pictures show her sitting on a bed in her underwear, with a reply from a social media users who suggested her appearance was 'shameful and unworthy of the institutional role she holds'.

The PM took the pictures in her stride, posting: “I must admit that whoever created them, at least ‌in the attached case, has also ‌improved me quite a bit.”

Meloni went on to issue a stark warning to anybody sharing images on social media, urging people to be mindful of deepfakes which are illegal in Italy.

Deepfake laws in Italy

Italy was the first country in the EU which made deepfakes illegal, moving in 2025 to pass a law against the use of artificial intelligence to cause harm. This includes generating sexualized deepfakes.

This is not the time Meloni has been the subject of deepfake images, with doctored images appearing on a pornographic website that also included altered images of 'high-profile' women.

She sued two men for €100,000 in 2024 for posting fake videos of her on a pornographic website in the US.

As she shared the more recent images, Meloni warned: "Check before you believe, and believe before you share. Because today it’s happening to me; tomorrow it could happen to anyone.

"Deepfakes are a dangerous tool, because they can deceive, manipulate, and strike anyone. I can defend myself. Many others cannot."

Indeed, Meloni is far from the first high-profile figure to speak out about deepfakes.

Scarlett Johansson (2018)

The Washington Post reported Johansson's face has been grafted onto dozens of pornographic videos, including one clip billed as 'leaked' footage which had 1.5 million views.

The Marvel and Jurassic World star told the publication: "Trying to protect yourself from the internet and its depravity is basically a lost cause, for the most part.

"Nothing can stop someone from cutting and pasting my image or anyone else’s onto a different body and making it look as eerily realistic as desired."

Xochitl Gomez (2024)

The Marvel star, who was just 17 at the time, said she'd seen several explict deepfakes of herself on X, which her team had tried and failed to remove.

She told The Squeeze podcast: "It made me weirded out and I didn’t like it and I wanted it taken down.

"It wasn’t because I felt like it was invading my privacy, more just like it wasn’t a good look for me. This has nothing to do with me. And yet it’s on here with my face.”

Bobbi Althoff (2024)

The successful podcast host, who has interviewed Drake and Offset, warned her followers at the time of a sexually explicit AI-generated video of her trending on X.

She said: "The reason I’m trending is 100% not me & is definitely AI generated."

Taylor Swift (2024)

AI-generated explicit pictures of Swift were trending on X and Telegram two years ago, with one photo viewed 47 million times

The scandal resulted in many US politicians calling for stricter rules about AI deepfakes.

Are sexualised deepfakes illegal in the US?

On May 19, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law the TAKE IT DOWN Act (Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act), establishing a major federal framework to combat non-consensual intimate imagery and AI-generated 'deepfakes'.

It prohibits people from publishing deepfakes of minors and non-consenting adults and requires websites to have a clear takedown process if someone sees an unauthorised AI image of themselves.

Last month marked the first conviction under the Take It Down Act. James Strahler II, 37, from Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty to cybercrimes involving both real and AI-generated images.

In one instance, he had used AI to create a video of an adult victim engaged in sex acts with her own father. He

UNILAD has contacted the Italian Prime Minister's press office for comment.