MILAN (Reuters) -Italy’s Giorgia Meloni expressed outrage on Friday over an adult website that published unauthorised pictures of women, including of the prime minister, amid a national outcry over online misogyny and abuse.
Administrators of the phica.eu website, whose name is a play on a vulgar Italian slang term for female genitalia, took it down on Thursday following widespread condemnation and legal complaints.
“I am disgusted by what has happened, and I want to express my solidarity and closeness to all the women who have been offended, insulted, and violated in their intimacy by the administrators of this forum and its ‘users,'” Meloni was quoted as saying by daily Corriere della Sera.
The website had been running since 2005 and had more than 200,000 registered members, but came under intense media and political scrutiny this week following another highly-publicised case of misogynist online abuse.
Earlier this month, Facebook took down the Mia Moglie (‘My Wife’) group, where users shared intimate photos of women without their consent, after a wave of public complaints initiated by author and activist Carolina Capria.
The group had over 32,000 members.
In announcing its shutdown, a spokesperson for Facebook’s parent company Meta said the group violated the social media company’s policy against the sexual exploitation of adults.
“It is disheartening to see that in 2025, there are still those who consider it normal and legitimate to trample on a woman’s dignity and make her the object of sexist and vulgar insults, hiding behind anonymity or a keyboard,” Meloni said.
The 48-year-old, in office since 2022, is Italy’s first woman prime minister.
Heeding calls from women’s rights advocates and lawmakers, Equality Minister Eugenia Roccella said the government was working on stronger online protections and cultural reforms to combat misogyny and sexism.
The phica.eu site hosted thousands of manipulated images and videos of female public figures, often accompanied by obscene and violent commentary. It also featured photos of ordinary women, classified by geographical location.
Its administrators said in a message they were closing down the forum “with great regret” due to “toxic behaviours” that had “damaged the original spirit”.
As well as Meloni, it published images of opposition leader Elly Schlein, influencer Chiara Ferragni and EU lawmaker Alessandra Moretti, who filed a criminal complaint and said such websites “incite rape and violence”.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina. Editing by Alvise Armellini and Mark Potter)
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