{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-17T08:15:13.293Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"satire","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2024","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2024-italy-tv-satire-show-ai-deepfakes-of-journalist-mentana-privacy-regulator-warns-broadcaster","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'per alcuni servizi di Striscia la Notizia, nei quali l’immagine e la voce di Enrico Mentana erano state manipolate mediante l’impiego di sistemi di intelligenza artificiale.'; 'Nei filmati venivano attribuite al noto giornalista dichiarazioni mai pronunciate, mentre la sua immagine era collocata virtualmente nello studio televisivo dell’emittente per la quale lavora.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'servizi costruiti prendendo come spunto fatti che hanno coinvolto diversi personaggi pubblici e accompagnandoli con commenti di vario genere pronunciati dal deepfake del reclamante doppiato con sistemi di intelligenza artificiale'; 'è stata utilizzata l’immagine reale del reclamante, ripresa peraltro all’interno dello studio televisivo da cui il medesimo dirige un telegiornale di fascia serale, alterandone la genuinità attraverso un doppiaggio effettuato con strumenti tali da non rendere chiaramente percepibile l’esistenza della predetta alterazione'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Striscia la Notizia aired segments in which the image and voice of journalist Enrico Mentana were manipulated with AI systems, attributing to him statements he never made while placing his image in the studio of the channel he works for.","causal_attribution":"The regulator's findings in its decision and press release; R.T.I. itself describes computer-generated dubbing."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'nella puntata di venerdì 8 novembre manderà in onda un servizio che vedrà protagonista Enrico Mentana, ma in versione deepfake, ovvero con voce e immagini generati dall’intelligenza artificiale.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"A preview published on 8 November 2024 describes a Striscia la Notizia segment airing that evening in which a deepfake Mentana, with voice and images generated by AI, commented on a game show.","causal_attribution":"A press preview of the programme; it establishes that such segments aired from at least November 2024, not which segments the complaint listed (the decision redacts their dates)."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'moltissime persone hanno creduto che i video, prodotti da Striscia la Notizia e divulgati sul mezzo televisivo e sui social, fossero reali'; 'rivelano come molte persone siano convinte che le dichiarazioni siano autentiche, determinando con ciò una gravissima lesione dell’onore, della reputazione e della propria professionalità'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Mentana complained to the Garante that many people believed the videos were real and that users' insulting comments showed serious harm to his honour, reputation and professionalism.","causal_attribution":"The complainant's submissions as recorded in the decision."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'il realismo delle immagini, la scarsa percepibilità dell’alterazione e la plausibilità delle dichiarazioni avrebbero potuto indurre il pubblico a ritenere autentici i contenuti. Anche le avvertenze sulla natura artificiale dei video non sono state ritenute sufficientemente chiare'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'amplificando altresì il rischio di farne veicolo di disinformazione per il pubblico, come confermato dai numerosi messaggi di scherno e/o di offesa ricevuti via social dal reclamante'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Garante found that the content could lead the public to consider it authentic, that the warnings were not sufficiently clear, and that the real studio setting amplified the risk of disinformation, as confirmed by the numerous mocking or offensive messages Mentana received on social media.","causal_attribution":"The regulator's findings; the regulator's reference to the messages rests on material in the complaint."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Il Garante ha quindi accertato la violazione dell’articolo 5 del GDPR'; 'ha adottato nei confronti di R.T.I. Spa un provvedimento di ammonimento e ha vietato l’ulteriore utilizzo dei dati di Enrico Mentana con le modalità contestate'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'dispone il divieto di ulteriore trattamento dei dati del reclamante con le modalità sopra descritte, eccettuata la mera conservazione degli stessi ai fini di un loro eventuale utilizzo in sede giudiziaria'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Garante found breaches of GDPR Articles 5 and 25, warned R.T.I. and prohibited further processing of Mentana's data in the contested way, except retention for judicial use.","causal_attribution":"The dispositive part of the decision."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'l’unica attività realizzata da R.T.I. è stata quella di disporre, con riguardo ai predetti filmati, il doppiaggio del dott. Mentana, con voce diversa dalla sua, attraverso appositi sistemi informativi'; 'la finalità dei servizi oggetto di reclamo è quella di esercitare il diritto di satira ricorrendo all’imitazione del reclamante'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"R.T.I. argued that its only intervention was dubbing licensed footage with a different, computer-generated voice, that the segments were satire, and that disclaimers made clear it was not the real Mentana speaking.","causal_attribution":"The broadcaster's submissions as recorded in the decision; the Garante did not accept them."}],"effects":[{"label":"AI deepfake segments attributing invented statements to a journalist","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"mocking or offensive messages and risk to reputation found by the regulator","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/10281135","kind":"press_release","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Garante press release of 7 August 2026; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"garante-privacy"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/10281021","kind":"official_record","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Garante decision of 23 July 2026 (doc. web 10281021), read in full; dates and names of counsel are redacted as XX; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"garante-privacy"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://dilei.it/spettacolo/striscia-la-notizia-enrico-mentana-svela-il-vero-volto-stefano-de-martino/1587080/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. DiLei entertainment preview, 8 November 2024; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"dilei-8-nov-2024"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["work","privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["Which segments the complaint covered and when they aired; the decision redacts the dates.","Which AI tools were used.","Whether R.T.I. challenged the decision in court and what measures it reported to the Garante."],"geography":{"basis":"The segments were aired by R.T.I. (Reti Televisive Italiane) on Striscia la Notizia and investigated by Italy's data protection authority; the depicted person is the director of La7's news bulletin. His country of residence is not stated. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["IT"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): Italy's data protection authority found that a broadcaster's AI deepfakes of a journalist could be taken as authentic, noted the offensive messages he received, warned the broadcaster and barred further use. The journalist is a public figure who brought the complaint and is named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-17"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Italy's data protection authority, after an investigation of the complaint, states that the journalist's image and voice were manipulated with AI systems in the segments and that statements he never made were attributed to him; the broadcaster told the authority it dubbed the footage with a computer-generated voice. The authority found the content could be taken as authentic and cited the mocking or offensive messages he received, which is the reported harm.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Italy's privacy regulator warns broadcaster R.T.I. and bars further use of AI deepfakes of journalist Enrico Mentana in Striscia la Notizia segments","summary":"The satirical television programme Striscia la Notizia, published by R.T.I., aired segments in which the image and voice of the journalist Enrico Mentana, director of La7's news bulletin, were, according to the Garante, manipulated with AI systems so that he appeared in his own studio making statements he never made (its decision describes real footage from his studio altered by AI dubbing); a November 2024 preview describes one such segment. After Mentana complained, Italy's data protection authority (Garante) found on 23 July 2026 that the realism of the images, the low perceptibility of the alteration and the plausibility of the statements could lead the public to think the content authentic, and that the disclaimers were not clear enough. It found breaches of GDPR Articles 5 and 25, issued a warning to R.T.I. and prohibited further processing of his data in that way. The Garante noted the numerous mocking or offensive messages he received on social media. R.T.I. argued that the segments were satire, that it only dubbed licensed footage with a computer-generated voice, and that its disclaimers made the deepfake evident. No fine was imposed.","incidentDate":"2024-11-08","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-08-07","aiSystem":"AI systems used by the programme to manipulate the journalist's image and voice (the Garante); R.T.I. describes computer-generated dubbing of licensed footage. No product is named.","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Italy's data protection authority found that AI deepfakes of a journalist on a satirical TV programme could be taken as authentic and noted the numerous mocking or offensive messages he received; it warned the broadcaster and barred further use.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the journalist depicted in the deepfakes, whose complaint the Garante upheld (decision 10281021). Viewers are an audience and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"IT","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/10281135","primarySourceLabel":"Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, press release, 7 August 2026: stop to satirical deepfakes of Enrico Mentana","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-17T03:08:22.075012+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-17T03:08:22.075012+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","voice_synthesis","television","satire","data_protection_authority","gdpr"]}]}