Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office to trademark her voice, submitting a four-second audio clip of her catchphrase to combat AI-generated deepfakes. The move comes ahead of Italy's 2027 general election, where Meloni expects to face heavy digital targeting. While legal experts note the trademark will not completely block AI clones, it provides a stronger tool for removing unauthorized content from social media platforms.
Meloni's voice trademark application
- ▪Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office on October 5, 2026, to trademark her voice to protect against AI-generated deepfakes, and the application is currently under review.
- ▪The phrase "Io sono Giorgia" serves as the title of Giorgia Meloni's 2021 autobiography and stems from a 2019 political rally speech that became a viral dance remix.
- ▪Giorgia Meloni's trademark application includes a four-second audio recording of her twice repeating the Italian phrase "Io sono Giorgia Meloni" ("I am Giorgia Meloni").
Deepfake threats targeting Meloni
- ▪Giorgia Meloni has previously targeted deepfake threats, including launching a pending 2024 civil lawsuit seeking €100,000 in damages against a Sardinian man accused of uploading deepfake pornographic videos of her.
- ▪In May 2026, Giorgia Meloni warned on social media that deepfakes are dangerous tools that can deceive, manipulate, and harm anyone, noting that while she can defend herself, many others cannot.
- ▪Clones of Giorgia Meloni's voice have already been circulated in political advertisements suggesting voters should vote her out of office, alongside deepfake videos falsely showing her promoting investment schemes.
Upcoming Italian election context
- ▪Luiss University political science head Giovanni Orsina stated that Giorgia Meloni is taking defensive measures because she expects to be heavily targeted in a highly contentious upcoming election campaign.
- ▪Giorgia Meloni's trademark application comes as Italy prepares for a general election in 2027, where she will seek a second term against challenges from the centre-left opposition and Roberto Vannacci's far-right party.
Legal and regulatory frameworks
- ▪Legal experts and media reports indicate that while a voice trademark would not automatically block all AI-generated imitations, it provides stronger, more responsive tools for content removal on social media platforms.
- ▪The European Union's amended AI Act, adopted in July 2026, mandates clear disclosure of deepfakes and bans AI systems that generate non-consensual sexualized images, video, or audio of identifiable people.
Global efforts to protect voices
- ▪Actress Scarlett Johansson publicly objected to an OpenAI chatbot voice in 2024 that she stated sounded eerily similar to her own voice, leading OpenAI to withdraw the feature.
- ▪US actor Matthew McConaughey trademarked his image and voice in January 2026, and singer Taylor Swift submitted three trademark applications in the US in April 2026, including audio clips of her voice.
- ▪A Japanese court in late September or early October 2026 awarded legal protection to a human voice for the first time, ordering TikTok to close an account using an unauthorized AI clone of an anime actor's baritone voice.
- ▪In August 2026, over 80 British performers, including Matt Lucas, Hugh Bonneville, and Nicola Coughlan, called on UK politicians to introduce legislation giving individuals a legal right to own their voice.
Debatable claims
- ▪Voice trademarks are an effective tool for combating AI-generated deepfakes
- ▪Governments should establish a legal right for individuals to own their voices
- ▪Trademarking a political leader's voice is an appropriate use of intellectual property law
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