Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is seeking €100,000 (£85,374) in damages after deepfake porn videos of her were uploaded online.
Ms Meloni is due to testify before a court in the Sardinian city of Sassari on 2 July.
A deepfake image is one where the face of one person is digitally added to the body of another.
A 40-year-old man, thought to have produced the videos, and his 73-year-old father are under investigation.
Police have said they were able to find them by tracking down the mobile device that was used to post the videos.
Both men are accused of defamation. Under Italian law, some defamation cases can be criminal and carry a custodial sentence.
According to the indictment, the videos were posted on a US pornographic website, where they were viewed “millions of times” over the course of several months. Ms Meloni’s legal team has said that, if her request for damages is successful, she will donate the €100,000 to a fund to support women who have been victims of male violence.
Credit: bbc.com
