Data Protection Authority: ban on Striscia’s satirical deepfakes featuring Mentana

The use of deepfakes, even for satirical purposes, must respect people’s dignity and the principles of lawfulness, fairness and transparency laid down in data protection legislation. This was stated by the Italian Data Protection Authority at the conclusion of an investigation launched against Rti Spa concerning certain episodes of *Striscia la Notizia*, in which Enrico Mentana’s image and voice had been manipulated using artificial intelligence systems.

In the footage, statements that the journalist had never made were attributed to him, whilst his image was digitally superimposed into the television studio of the broadcaster for which he works. According to the Authority, which took action following a complaint from the journalist, the realism of the images, the fact that the manipulation was barely noticeable, and the plausibility of the statements could have led the public to believe the content was genuine. Nor were the warnings regarding the artificial nature of the videos deemed sufficiently clear, obvious and comprehensible to all television viewers and social media users.

The Data Protection Authority therefore found that there had been a breach of Article 5 of the GDPR, concerning the principles of lawfulness, fairness and transparency, and of Article 25, on data protection by design and by default.

In respect of these breaches, the Authority has issued a warning to Rti Spa and has prohibited the further use of Enrico Mentana’s data in the manner in question, subject to its retention for any judicial purposes.