Italy’s Meloni Seeks EU Trademark for Her Voice to Fight AI Deepfakes

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is asking European regulators to trademark the sound of her own voice, a legal step aimed at AI-generated deepfakes that have repeatedly targeted her online, according to Reuters.

The application, filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office and dated October 5, was confirmed by Meloni’s office, Reuters reported. It includes a four-second audio clip of the prime minister twice saying, in Italian, "I am Giorgia Meloni." The phrase is closely associated with her public identity: it supplied the title of her 2021 autobiography and traces back to a declaration at a 2019 political rally that was later remixed into a dance track.

A trademark as one more legal obstacle

Meloni has been a recurring target of manipulated media, including fake images that circulated online and were at times passed off as genuine, according to Reuters. She has publicly condemned such material as a tool for spreading falsehoods and has urged people to verify what they share, noting that while she can defend herself, many victims of deepfakes cannot.

The filing is still under examination. Italian media have noted that a voice trademark, even if granted, would not by itself stop anyone from generating a synthetic copy of her voice, though it could give her additional legal grounds to challenge misuse. The move follows a civil case Meloni opened in 2024 against a man in Sardinia accused of making and posting deepfake pornographic images using her face; that case remains pending in an Italian court, Reuters reported.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.