Phica Shut Down After Deepfakes Were Uncovered. “A website showing doctored images of thousands of Italian women including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has closed down after a significant backlash. The scandal involving the online forum Phica, whose name is a play on the Italian word for vagina, broke after politicians reported the matter to the police. The Italian police have launched investigations into the site’s administrators and participants.” [Euronews]
Giorgia Meloni Targeted In Phica Scandal. “Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has urged women to immediately report intimate photographs shared online without their consent, after it emerged that even the premier herself had been targeted. “I am disgusted by what has happened,” Meloni told Corriere della Sera after manipulated images of several high-profile women—including herself and opposition leader Elly Schlein—were discovered on a pornographic website. The images had been digitally altered to highlight or sexualize certain body parts. The platform, called Phica—a play on a vulgar Italian slang term for vagina—had more than 700,000 subscribers before it was shut down on Thursday. The shutdown followed the recent discovery of a now-closed Italian Facebook group called My Wife, where men posted photos of their spouses alongside vulgar, sexist, and violent comments.” [EC]
One of the first political bloggers in the world, Oliver Willis has operated OliverWillis.com since 2000. Contributor at Media Matters for America and The American Independent. Follow on Twitter at @owillis. Full bio.