Facebook removed an Italian group on the social network where men shared intimate images of women, often without their consent, with thousands of people online.
The group ‘Mia Moglie’ (“My Wife”) had about 32 thousand members Before it is closed this week. The discovery generated indignation among Italians, who are concerned about the growth of other similar groups in their absence. The owner of Facebook, said it had closed the page “for violating adult sexual exploitation policies.”
Screen catches made before removal of the group seemed to show photos of women in different nudity states, sometimes sleeping or even in intimate moments. Under the publications, numerous sexually explicit comments of men are read. Some wrote that they wanted to “violate” the woman, while others praised the secret character of some of the photographs.
The page was denounced by the writer Carolina Capriawhich online said it made sense “sick” and “scared” with what he saw.
“This link between violence and sexuality is so rooted in our culture that, in a public group, men write without hiding their names and faces,” he said. Fiorella Zabatta of the European Greens Party said on social networks that it was “not just harmless fun,” but “Virtual violation”. “These platforms have to be fought, this toxic idea of masculinity must be fought, and we all need to act: civil society and politics as well.”
Revenge Porn (or, in Portuguese, revenge pornography), sharing sexually explicit images or videos that should remain private, was criminalized In Italy in 2019. According to the Italian press, more than a thousand people have already denounced the group to the police unit that investigates cyber crimes.
At Financial Times, Marisa Marraffino, a lawyer specializing in online crime, explained that members of the Mia Moglie Group who shared or commented shared photos without consent can be accused and face penalties of up to six years in prison.
In a statement, the goal added: “We do not allow content that threatens or promote sexual violence, sexual aggression or sexual exploitation on our platforms.”
The discovery of the Italian Facebook page led some to draw parallels with the in France. Last year, Dominique Pelicot went to 20 years in prison for drugging, abusing and inviting strangers to sexually abuse his then wife, Gisèle Pelicot.
Although virtual, Capria recalled that the episode showed that the Pelicot case was not an anomaly, since in both there was “a man who believes to control his wife, and for whom sexuality is intrinsically linked to oppression.”
The Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has not yet commented on this case.
