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Can Your Voice Be Stolen? Giorgia Meloni Trademarks Voice to Fight Deepfakes
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News18•06-10-2026, 14:05
Can Your Voice Be Stolen? Giorgia Meloni Trademarks Voice to Fight Deepfakes
- •Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office to trademark her voice to combat AI-generated deepfakes.
- •A deepfake is an AI technology that can replicate a person's face or voice so realistically that ordinary people mistake it for the real thing.
- •Meloni submitted a 4-second audio clip saying I am Giorgia Meloni, seeking exclusive rights for 10 years to protect against fraud and fake content.
- •Voice cloning crimes are rising globally, with deepfake videos of leaders like Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi circulating during the 2024 Indian elections.
- •Experts warn that while legal trademarks help, society needs better detection tools, stricter laws, and awareness to fight the growing threat of deepfakes.
Key Questions Answered
Giorgia Meloni applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office to trademark a 4-second audio clip of her voice to prevent the creation of unauthorized AI-generated deepfake videos, audio, and fraud.
Creating an audio deepfake has become extremely cheap and easy, requiring just 3 seconds of a real voice and an investment of around 30 euros to produce content that 70 percent of people believe is real.
During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in India, deepfake videos featuring political figures and celebrities like Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, and Amitabh Bachchan were widely circulated across social media platforms such as WhatsApp, TikTok, and X, prompting an advisory from the Election Commission.
