Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni is the target of photos handled on adult content site; Portal was closed

The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, traveled to Kiev on Saturday (24) Handout/Palazzo Chigi Press Office/AFP an explicit adult content platform in Italy was forced to close on Thursday (28) after the discovery that its users displayed photos of prominent women illegally and without authorization. The content of the site included images of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Parliament Deputy Alessandra Moretti, opposition leader Elly Schlein and influencer Chiara Ferragni. The online forum called Phica – a name that derives from Italian slang to female sexual organs – has existed for at least two decades. The portal was frequented by about 200,000 users who displayed photos identified by specific names or themes. Women’s images seemed to have been taken from television programs or social networking profiles. Obscene and explicit posts, including idealized violence against women, were marked in the content. Sexism with impunity The reaction to the portal’s activities increased when Mrs Moretti filed a formal police complaint after finding an image of her displayed on the site without her permission. “They steal photos and clips of TV shows in which I have appeared for years, then change them and provide them with thousands of users,” said Moretti. She said the portal is just one of many in Italy who operate with impunity, despite the numerous complaints against them. “This type of site, which incites rape and violence, should be closed and banned,” he said. The platform’s administrators published a statement on Thursday saying that the site would be closed “with great regret” due to “toxic behaviors” and “misuse of the platform, which damaged its original essence.” Italy’s struggle against gender violence the case came to light after a similar episode involving an Italian group on the Facebook social network named Mia Moglie (“my wife”), which was also convicted across the country. In the online group with over 30,000 men, users published images of their partners without their consent and shared them, generating obscene comments. The Italian government approved a bill in March that, for the first time, introduces the legal definition of femicide in the country’s criminal law and punishes these crimes with life imprisonment, but the project has not yet obtained final approval to become law. The country’s center-left opposition praised the law, but emphasized that the economic, educational and cultural sources of sexism and misogyny in Italy are still unresolved. See also understand in 6 points the project against adultization on the networks

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