The Milan Prosecutor’s Office has received approximately ten lawsuits for defamation and privacy violations in recent days. The complaints were filed by women whose images, published without consent and accompanied by vulgar comments, appeared on the sexist website Phica.eu. The site was shut down by the Postal Police last September 11th.
The case file, coordinated by deputy prosecutor Letizia Mannella, has been assigned to prosecutor Giovanni Tarzia.
This development follows an investigation already opened by the Rome Prosecutor’s Office in recent weeks. That inquiry into the website—which published stolen, unauthorized photos of women, including actresses, influencers, and politicians—is examining potential crimes of illicit distribution of sexually explicit images or videos, defamation, and extortion. The latter charge relates to alleged demands for money, reported by victims, to remove sensitive content. The alleged site manager, 45-year-old Vittorio Vitiello, originally from Pompei but residing in Florence, has had his property searched.
In a separate but related matter, the Rome Prosecutor’s Office has also opened an investigation into the Facebook page “Mia moglie” (My Wife) for revenge porn. Meanwhile, the Florence Prosecutor’s Office has launched a parallel investigation for alleged defamation against Mayor Sara Funaro.
In response to these cases of sexist websites, lawyer Annamaria Bernardini de Pace is leading a collective legal action with a team of attorneys to seek damages. The action also targets Meta, specifically concerning the “Mia moglie” group.