Italian police shut down a secret Facebook group, 'Mia Moglie', where 32,000 men shared intimate photos of women, often taken by their partners. PC: Freepik
In a shocking case in Italy, the police uncovered a private Facebook group with thousands of men exchanging intimate photos of women, who were mostly their own girlfriends or wives.
The group which was called 'Mia Moglie', literally translates to My Wife. It had been operating since 2019 and expanded to over 32,000 members. The men within the group shared intimate photos of their wives, girlfriends, and even strangers. Most of the images involved women undressing, sunbathing, or having sex. Investigators were particularly disturbed that, in most instances, it was the women's own husbands or partners who surreptitiously recorded and posted the material.
Group posts were frequently accompanied by indecent comments and explicit innuendos, which formed what police called a 'deeply toxic environment'.
"It is a very toxic space," said Barbara Strappato, Deputy Director of Italy's Postal Police. "All remarks posted in the group will be documented in our information system. The offenses here include defamation to posting intimate photos without consent. I have never witnessed so many offensive words in a social media group throughout my career."
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The probe was initiated after Meta and the Italian police had over 2,000 complaints requesting action. On August 20, the Postal Police closed the group for good and initiated a criminal investigation.
But prior to closure, the anonymous administrators of the group tried to revive the community. In a goodbye message to members, they posted: "We have created a new private and secure group. Goodbye and abuse to those who pretend to be moral."
At this point, authorities suspect the group has migrated to Telegram, which is more difficult to track and control.
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Even though the group was dispersed, thousands of images and screenshots had already proliferated on other platforms so that it became nearly uncontainable.
Italy already has a 'revenge porn' law, enacted in 2019, under which prison sentences of up to six years can be given to anyone convicted of posting sexual content without the consent of the person involved.
In response to the case, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reiterated that the problem is not just revenge-related crimes, but more broadly a cultural issue that needs to be addressed with urgency.
