Controversy over latest case of sexist website targeting women in Italy.Italy's postal police have launched an investigation into a sexist website featuring naked images of dozens of famous Italian women, generated using artificial intelligence and published without their consent.The case came to light on Sunday after Italian journalist Francesca Barra took to Instagram to say she had discovered an adult website featuring AI-generated pornographic images of her, slamming it as "an act of violence and an abuse that undermines dignity, reputation and trust". "I thought of my children and felt embarrassed and afraid of what they might hear or read if those images fell into the wrong hands", Barra wrote, adding that she thought "of the girls who suffer the same digital violence and who perhaps don't have the same tools to defend themselves or the strength to fight back". The website under investigation is called Social Media Girls which reportedly offers various pornographic and erotic services, often based on the use of artificial intelligence software. The images cited by Barra are obtained for a fee by using the "Undress AI" service to generate erotic or pornographic images from real photographs available online. Celebrities The portal also features an "Italian nude VIPs" section, featuring women from the world of entertainment, media and politics including influencer Chiara Ferragni, sports presenter Diletta Leotta, screen legend Sophia Loren, journalists Francesca Fagnani and Selvaggia Lucarelli, TV presenters Michelle Hunziker and Elisabetta Canalis, singers Elodie, Angelina Mango and Arisa, and politician Maria Elena Boschi. "There are more than 50 well-known Italian women on the site with nudes created with AI" - Selvaggia Lucarelli wrote on Instagram - "on a forum that hosts more than seven million users, with tens of thousands of members active 24/7." Lucarelli published an article about the case on Monday, saying she had been studying the website for weeks and was prompted to publish her findings after Barra's post. According to Lucarelli, the site contains thousands of videos of women who were unaware they were being filmed, with references to footage obtained from security cameras, hidden cameras, nudist beaches and doctor's offices. She believes the footage was "most likely obtained from video surveillance systems connected to vulnerable or hacked servers", with other videos appearing to come from "household devices, such as baby monitors or Wi-Fi cameras, left unprotected or without a password." Political reaction There was a strong political backlash to the case, with centre-right Forza Italia senator Licia Ronzulli, vice president of the senate, slamming it on Monday as "another disgusting and horrifying site that uses technology to rape women." "'Stripping' a face, a body, a life, without consent using artificial intelligence is not entertainment, it's virtual rape," Ronzulli attacks, adding: "If before, one could only express outrage over all this, if before, reporting was just a formality because those responsible got away with it, now, thanks to our law introducing the crime of deepfake, they will pay with up to five years in prison." Senators Raffaella Paita, leader of the centrist Italia Viva group in the senate, and Daniela Sbrollini, also of Italia Viva and leader of the Femicide Commission, blasted it as "unacceptable violence."   Mia Moglie and Phica The investigation into the images allegedly published on SocialMediaGirls.com follows recent controversies in Italy over a sexist Facebook group called Mia Moglie (My Wife), where users shared private photos of women without their consent, and an Italian-run website called Phica, a play on the Italian slang for vagina, which featured explicit, doctored images of well-known women. Among the women featured on the Phica platform was Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who said she was "disgusted" by the site and called for those responsible to be punished "with the utmost firmness". Following a public outcry in Italy, both Mia Moglie and Phica were closed down within days of each other. The case of SocialMediaGirls is slightly different, Il Post reports, because it is a site with users from all over the world, not just Italy, and it is more difficult to trace the owners. According to Corriere della Sera, the website domain has been active for more than 11 years and features "a configuration typical of platforms that prioritise anonymity." Photo Francesca Barra Instagram

Italy's postal police have launched an investigation into a sexist website featuring naked images of dozens of famous Italian women, generated using artificial intelligence and published without their consent. The case came to light on Sunday after Italian journalist Francesca Barra took to Instagram to say she had discovered an adult website featuring AI-generated pornographic images of her, slamming it as "an act of violence and an abuse that undermines dignity, reputation and trust". "I thought of my children and felt embarrassed and afraid of what they might hear or read if those images fell into the wrong hands", Barra wrote, adding that she thought "of the girls who suffer the same digital violence and who perhaps don't have the same tools to defend themselves or the strength to fight back". The website under investigation is called Social Media Girls which reportedly offers various pornographic and erotic services, often based on the use of artificial intelligence software. The images cited by Barra are obtained for a fee by using the "Undress AI" service to generate erotic or pornographic images from real photographs available online. Celebrities The portal also features an "Italian nude VIPs" section, featuring women from the world of entertainment, media and politics including influencer , sports presenter Diletta Leotta, screen legend Sophia Loren, journalists Francesca Fagnani and Selvaggia Lucarelli, TV presenters Michelle Hunziker and Elisabetta Canalis, singers Elodie, and Arisa, and politician Maria Elena Boschi. "There are more than 50 well-known Italian women on the site with nudes created with AI" - Selvaggia Lucarelli wrote on Instagram - "on a forum that hosts more than seven million users, with tens of thousands of members active 24/7." Lucarelli published an article about the case on Monday, saying she had been studying the website for weeks and was prompted to publish her findings after Barra's post. According to Lucarelli, the site contains thousands of videos of women who were unaware they were being filmed, with references to footage obtained from security cameras, hidden cameras, nudist beaches and doctor's offices. She believes the footage was "most likely obtained from video surveillance systems connected to vulnerable or hacked servers", with other videos appearing to come from "household devices, such as baby monitors or Wi-Fi cameras, left unprotected or without a password." Political reaction There was a strong political backlash to the case, with centre-right Forza Italia senator Licia Ronzulli, vice president of the senate, slamming it on Monday as "another disgusting and horrifying site that uses technology to rape women." "'Stripping' a face, a body, a life, without consent using artificial intelligence is not entertainment, it's virtual rape," Ronzulli attacks, adding: "If before, one could only express outrage over all this, if before, reporting was just a formality because those responsible got away with it, now, thanks to our , they will pay with up to five years in prison." Senators Raffaella Paita, leader of the centrist Italia Viva group in the senate, and Daniela Sbrollini, also of Italia Viva and leader of the Femicide Commission, blasted it as "unacceptable violence."   Mia Moglie and Phica The investigation into the images allegedly published on SocialMediaGirls.com follows recent controversies in Italy over  (My Wife), where users shared private photos of women without their consent, and an Italian-run website called Phica, a play on the Italian slang for vagina, which featured explicit, doctored images of well-known women. Among the women featured on the Phica platform was Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who said she was "disgusted" by the site and called for those responsible to be punished "with the utmost firmness". Following a public outcry in Italy, both Mia Moglie and Phica were closed down within days of each other. The case of SocialMediaGirls is slightly different, Il Post reports, because it is a site with users from all over the world, not just Italy, and it is more difficult to trace the owners. According to Corriere della Sera, the website domain has been active for more than 11 years and features "a configuration typical of platforms that prioritise anonymity." Photo Francesca Barra Instagram