The modified image
In the photo published on Facebook by Vannacci, Matilde Siracusano is sitting next to Fabio Roscioli and Claudio Lotito, FI senator and patron of Reggina. The undersecretary appears in the image with a deep neckline, which however does not exist in the original photo of the FI deputy - taken from Facebook - because she is wearing a white t-shirt under the floral jacket. "The Reggio polling station is not a branch of Arcore nor the waste bin of national politics", is the writing that accompanies the image, entirely created from other photos.
Siracusano considers filing a complaint
"I'm used to sexist attacks, but this is frankly unprecedented. A real disgust that needs to be contained", commented Matilde Siracusano to Adnkronos. "I repeat, I have suffered attacks of this kind and I have quite broad shoulders - he adds - but here we are in the presence of a drift that must be stemmed, above all to protect the weakest people in the face of phenomena of this type". "Using artificial intelligence to undress a woman, with the clear desire to denigrate a woman, is a gigantic problem for everyone, it is something of infinite squalor, even more deplorable and serious if it is done by someone who is running to be a political leader. Furthermore, I have never been elected in Calabria nor am I intending to run, Vannacci is attacking me just because I am the partner of the President of the Region?". "Vannacci - underlines Siracusano - discuss how to transfer resources to the territory, given that in my political activity I have been able to do so, on what the parliamentary procedures are, rather than setting up the electoral campaign using this rubbish". The undersecretary for relations with Parliament is considering the possibility of "presenting a complaint, above all in a spirit of service towards weaker people who may be the recipients of attacks of this type and also to avoid the risk of becoming accustomed to episodes like this. And then certainly for us legislators there is a more general problem to stop this abuse rather than the use of artificial intelligence. There have been interventions but evidently they are not yet sufficient".
Occhiuto: "Whoever retouches a woman's body to engage in politics has already lost"
"Roberto Vannacci can attack Forza Italia or me, if he thinks it might be of use to him for the by-elections, which are in Reggio Calabria and not in Saxony. Discuss the merits, the contents, the future of our territories and the country, if he is capable of it, with me or even with Matilde Siracusano - attacks Roberto Occhiuto, president of the Calabria Region, deputy national secretary of Forza Italia and companion of Siracusano - But whoever needs to make adjustments in order to do politics with a software a woman's body has already lost, before even starting. This is not the center-right that I recognize myself in, and I don't think it is the one that Italians recognize themselves in."
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The anger of Forza Italia
"The attack on Matilde Siracusano is vulgar and unacceptable and demonstrates the lack of political content on the part of those who devised it. Retouching a photo to try to ridicule the political opponent is dishonorable for those who preach respect for the rules. It is the classic example of the moralist without morals", wrote the deputy prime minister and secretary of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani, on X. "Evidently someone thought that, by not finding 'women without skirts', the AI would take care of retouching the clothes and discovering the colleagues. A completely disheartening intent and result, disqualifying first of all for those who tried", adds Paolo Emilio Russo, group leader of FI in the Constitutional Affairs commission of the Chamber. "Manipulating the image of a woman in politics, altering her clothing and publishing a falsified photo, is simply unseemly. And it is for those who do it. It is not humour, it is not irony, it is not an electoral campaign: it is a lack of respect towards a person, towards an institution and towards the country", adds Deborah Bergamini, deputy national secretary of Forza Italia. "This episode perfectly describes Vannacci's 'world in reverse': a world in which manipulation takes the place of truth, personal attacks replace confrontations over content and a woman is judged for an artificially constructed image rather than for the work she carries out in institutions. When there is a lack of arguments, we resort to caricatures. When politics is missing, we try to humiliate the opponent. It is an indecent method, in very poor taste, which some people draw on without any scruple - says the president of the Italian senators, Stefania Craxi - but the point is not a photograph. This is why it is urgent to arrive at the next electoral competitions with clearer and more rigorous rules on the use of artificial intelligence".
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The solidarity of allies
Solidarity also from Mara Carfagna, secretary of Noi Moderati: "If there was still any doubt about the chauvinism of Roberto Vannacci and his party, it has now fallen. To mock the governor of Calabria, Roberto Occhiuto, Vannacci publishes a photo of his partner, Undersecretary Matilde Siracusano, with an artificially created plunging neckline. It is an intolerable aggression and an act of sexist bullying unprecedented in our politics. No one would he ever dream of publishing manipulated photos of Vannacci's wife and daughters to attack him politically. The idea of the woman that the general proposes is unacceptable and, as far as I'm concerned, represents one of the most dangerous aspects of his political program." "Manipulating a photo to show a person in more revealing clothes than in reality is unworthy - comments Luca Ciriani, minister for relations with Parliament - on this occasion Futuro Nazionale hit Matilde Siracusano in an undignified way, a serious and knowledgeable colleague who works alongside me every day in the department, to whom I send a strong hug. The modified photo speaks for itself and qualifies whoever produced and published it". "There really are no words to comment on: it is a disgusting and very serious fact, an indecent way to undress a woman and use her as a mere instrument of electoral propaganda - says Senator Elena Murelli, leader of the League group in the Social Affairs commission - There are those who take these things as a joke or a joke to gather a few votes and a few "likes", forgetting that whoever is running to lead our cities and the country should demonstrate a much different sense of institutions and human respect".
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The messages of the opposition
And there is no shortage of messages of support from the opposition. "From Vannacci only squalor and vulgarity. His is not political criticism but more vulgar sexism used as a weapon against a woman. My full solidarity goes to Matilde Siracusano", writes Chiara Braga, leader of the Pd group in the Chamber, in a note. "Once again Vannacci becomes the protagonist of an unacceptable political aggression, which once again uses sexism and personal denigration as tools of attack. My full solidarity and closeness goes to Matilde Siracusano", also attacks Angelo Bonelli, AVS deputy and co-spokesperson for Green Europe. "Once upon a time, officers were gentlemen. There are many ways in which Vannacci has tarnished and continues to tarnish the uniform he wore. Changing a lady's décolleté with AI is particularly childish and squalid. Cafonacci," Action leader Carlo Calenda wrote on social media. For the president of the deputies of Italia Viva-casa Riformista Maria Elena Boschi "it is very serious that Vannacci thought of discrediting a colleague by modifying her body. I am without hesitation at the side of Matilde Siracusano. Vannacci delete that image and apologise. If he has political arguments, use those. Leave women's bodies out of the electoral campaign".
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