Italian PM Meloni ‘disgusted’ after porn site posts altered images of her and other women
Giorgia Meloni said she was ‘disgusted’ after a porn site posted altered pictures and videos of her and other prominent women, calling for the perpetrators to be “punished with the utmost firmness”.
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The internet site which showed photos of thousands of Italian women without their consent and attracted obscene and explicit comments has been forced to shut down after a backlash.
The site, named ‘Phica’ after Italian slang for female genitalia, featured pictures of Meloni, her sister Arianna, opposition leader Elly Schlein, as well as European Parliament member Alessandra Moretti.
Pictures were often taken from the women’s social media accounts or public sources without consent, and edited to zoom into body parts or show the women in sexual poses.
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“I am disgusted by what has happened,” Meloni was quoted as saying in Corriere della Sera on Friday.
“I want to extend my solidarity and support to all the women who have been offended, insulted and violated in their intimacy by the administrators of this forum and its 'users'."
Alongside the vulgar altered images, it also hosted posts which idealised violence against women.
It counted 200,000 users and displayed pictures identified by names or certain themes.
"It is disheartening to see that in 2025, there are still those who consider it normal and legitimate to trample on a woman's dignity and make her the object of sexist and vulgar insults, hiding behind anonymity or a keyboard," Meloni added.
The online forum has been around for at least two decades, but only drew national attention after Moretti formally lodged a complaint with police after finding her photo displayed without her permission.
It displayed unauthorised photos and videos of hundreds of public figures, along with unsuspecting actresses, influencers and ordinary women.
"They have been stealing photos and clips from TV shows I've appeared on for years, then altering them and feeding them to thousands of users," Moretti said.
She said the site was among many that operate "with impunity" even though previous complaints have been filed against them.
"This type of site, which incites rape and violence, must be shut down and banned," she said.
Following the comments by Moretti, and complaints by dozens of other women, the site's administrators posted an online statement on Thursday saying "with great regret" it was being shut down.
They attributed the "toxic behaviours" to a "wrong use of the platform, which damaged its original spirit".
Italian women, from ordinary workers and housewives to top politicians, are fighting back against a proliferation of websites displaying their photos without their consent, often accompanied by obscene language.
Their efforts gained national prominence when activists earlier this summer denounced a Facebook page dubbed Mia Moglie (My Wife), where men posted unauthorised photos of their spouses and succeeded in getting it taken down.
Some men said their wives had agreed to their images being posted, but no female comments were visible on the site.
Experts said websites that display images of women without their consent were "the other face" of physical and sexual violence.
"Digital tools became not only a way for men to exercise control over women, but are increasingly used to offend, humiliate and attack them," Sabrina Frasca, activist with anti-violence group Differenza Donna, told the AP.
Mia Moglie had around 32,000 members before it was shut down last week by Facebook owner Meta, which said it acted against the site "for violating our adult sexual exploitation policies".
Italy has been struggling with how to prevent and address gender-based violence, as femicides - the killing of women because of their gender - has emerged as a systemic problem deeply rooted in Italy's patriarchal culture.
A series of violent incidents has reignited national debate over how to confront these crimes.
"Women have always been the arena on which men challenge each other and measure their virility," said feminist author and activist Carolina Capria.
"It's a game in which women are merely a commodity that adds value to the man who possesses them."
Italy's government approved a draft law in March that for the first time introduces the legal definition of femicide into the country's criminal law and punishes it with life imprisonment.
The bill still needs final approval in the lower house to become law.
While the centre-left opposition welcomed the move, it stressed that the new law only tackles the criminal aspect of the problem, while leaving economic, educational and cultural sources of misogyny unaddressed.