Forza Italia lawmaker accuses rival of AI-generated nude photo stunt in Calabria campaign
Matilde Siracusano says a campaign image of her was digitally altered to remove her jacket, leaving only underwear, and blames rival Roberto Vannacci for the sexist AI manipulation.
In the run-up to the supplementary elections in Calabria, Matilde Siracusano, a Forza Italia deputy and parliamentary under-secretary, lodged a complaint over a manipulated photograph that exaggerated the cleavage of her original picture and removed the jacket she was wearing, leaving only her undergarments visible. She attributed the alteration to a campaign effort by Roberto Vannacci, a candidate for the Futuro Nazionale party, describing the use of artificial-intelligence tools as a vulgar, gender-based attack.
Siracusano, who is also the partner of regional president Roberto Occhiuto, said she has faced sexist attacks before but this represented a new, unacceptable level of degradation. Antonio Tajani, secretary of Forza Italia, called the incident “disgraceful” and an example of moral hypocrisy. Siracusano indicated she intends to file a lawsuit, highlighting broader concerns about AI ethics in political campaigning.
How this story developed
- Sep 20 Meloni unveils draft law capping foreign pupils, mandating Italian for parents, banning burqa and hijab in schools
- Sep 21 Meloni cited research indicating that foreign‑born students make up 11.6% of Italy’s school population.
- Sep 23 Meloni publicly endorsed a foreign‑student limit, referencing earlier comments by President Sergio Mattarella.
- Sep 25 Meloni referenced Mattarella’s earlier calls to avoid clustering foreign‑language pupils when presenting the decree.
- Sep 25 The decree earmarks 17.5 million euros for extra Italian‑language teaching and sets fines of 200‑1,000 euros for violations.
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