Across Italy, women have been protesting against this pervasive and violent scourge known commonly as non-consensual pornography. This movement grew legs with recent legal complaints brought against Social Media Girls, a platform that has allegedly existed for 11 years. Francesca Barra, a well-known journalist and writer, has emerged as a national leader in this battle. Together with the likes of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, she fiercely criticizes the non-consensual use of women’s images.
Italy is unique in the European Union in lacking any form of required sex education. This vacuum of education has resulted in a generation of young women unprepared to face the realities of consent and digital privacy. This ignorance creates a culture where non-consensual sharing of intimate images can thrive. Instead, it prevents this kind of discriminatory and harmful behavior from going unchecked.
Barra was one of the first well-known figures to submit a legal complaint against Social Media Girls. She was hit with a wave of anger when she found her own picture on the website. “I will not allow anyone to violate me twice,” she stated, emphasizing her determination to stand up for those who may not have a voice. The site featured “nudified” images of numerous personalities, including cultural icons like Sophia Loren, and boasted over 7 million subscribers worldwide.
The problem only grew when Italian prosecutors shuttered Phica. That wasn’t the only role this platform played in distributing these doctored images. This site was home to an unbelievable trove of non-consensual material. About 80% of it contained images of women who had not consented. The ongoing investigation of the operator of Phica is an important reminder of the legal system’s resolve to crack down on this burgeoning menace.
It’s important to note, as Francesca Barra explained, that the women who are impacted by these practices don’t have the financial resources to sue. She had learned about the heartbreaking tale of Carolina Picchio. At just 14 years old, Carolina was Italy’s first cyberbullying victim when intimate footage of her, filmed without her consent, went viral online, causing the adolescent to take her own life. “She couldn’t bear the pain and the shame of the images circulating without her consent and didn’t know how to react or ask for help,” Barra reflected.
Still, even with these advances, many women are reluctant to take on the legal fight. Daniela Caputo, an attorney who has represented victims in these cases, explained that younger women usually lack the confidence to come forward. She pointed out that identifying those behind these harmful platforms poses a significant challenge, particularly since many originate from outside Italy.
Italy was the first EU country to make a move towards comprehensive legislation by directly regulating artificial intelligence in media. Questions about the real impact and efficacy of these laws remain. The proposed regulations establish maximum prison sentences for those found guilty of unlawful distribution of AI-generated or manipulated material that results in injury. Experts caution that the moment one popular platform is shut down, another one is bound to pop up to fill the void. “Then when one site gets closed down, another one appears,” Caputo cautioned.
Yet Barra’s advocacy goes far beyond her individual experience. She believes she has a moral obligation to all the women who don’t have this platform or who are too scared to come forward. “If it happened to me, how would I handle it?” she recalled her daughter asking her upon learning about these issues. Barra says raising awareness and educating people about what consent is—especially in the context of harm like pornography—will help fight against the normalization of non-consensual content.
As this creative grassroots movement continues to develop, it’s apparent that this problem is not limited to just Italy. “This problem is not unique to Italy – it is a global phenomenon that is becoming so important there needs to be an international synergy in tackling it,” Caputo emphasized. The battle to end non-consensual pornography is picking up steam. Advocates such as Barra are at the forefront of advocacy for this change, working to overcome the challenges being posed to women’s rights and digital privacy.