Written by Kosisochukwu Charity Ani
Technology can be both empowering and damaging as it brings the real and virtual worlds together. Some have leveraged social media and other technological tools to innovate, while others use them to facilitate abuse. Italian investigators have shut down an infamous Facebook group called Mia Moglie, which means “my wife” in Italian. For years, thousands of men used the platform to share intimate and deeply personal photos of women, many of which were taken and posted without their consent, on a shocking public Facebook page.
A space based on violation
Launched in 2019, Mia Moglie quickly became a place of exploitation for nearly 32,000 mostly male members, who, at any given time, were browsing hundreds of thousands of images depicting sisters, wives, girlfriends, and sometimes strangers, often in sexual or private contexts.
According to the Italian Postal Police, which monitors online crime, the group's content ranged from images of swinging couples to private photographs originally shared within relationships. Many depicted women engaged in sexual acts and, in most cases, were uploaded without the women's consent.
On August 20, 2025, the group was finally deactivated, following an intense wave of reports to Meta (Facebook's parent company) and Italian authorities, partly prompted by a high-profile complaint from author and feminist activist Carolina Capria, who raised awareness of the Mia Moglie page via her Instagram account.
Outrage, official measures and virtual escape
Barbara Strappato, Deputy Director of Postal Police, revealed that officers were overwhelmed by the volume of complaints received (more than 1,000 in just a few hours) and that investigative teams worked tirelessly to dismantle the group. Ms. Strappato added: “The crimes range from defamation to the dissemination of intimate material without consent. I confess I have never seen such disturbing phrases in a social media group. Our office worked around the clock to block the page. We received more than 1,000 reports in just a few hours. What happened is very serious.”
The shared content ranged from degrading comments to open invitations for sexual exploitation, with some members even listing personal information such as the women's age, measurements, and sexual history. Among the alarming messages were suggestions as cruel as "Put your hands between her thighs and see if she wakes up," a comment referencing a photo taken while the woman was sleeping.
"All comments will be archived in our information system," she added, announcing the closure of Mia Moglie. But is this the end of the digital gang rape taking place in the Mia Moglie group?
Before disappearing, the group's administrators announced the creation of a new "private and secure" channel, inviting members to migrate: "We have just created a new private and secure group... Goodbye, and fuck you, moralists." Authorities fear that many participants have migrated to encrypted platforms such as Telegram, where it is more difficult to police this type of content.
Meta said the page was removed for violating its rules against the sexual exploitation of adults.
"We removed the Facebook group 'My Wife' for violating our policies against the sexual exploitation of adults. We do not allow content that threatens or encourages sexual violence, sexual abuse, or sexual exploitation on our platforms," a Meta spokesperson said.
"If we become aware of content that incites or encourages rape, we may disable the groups and accounts that post it and share this information with law enforcement."
Although Meta claims the page was not initially used for the dissemination of non-consensual intimate images, the Facebook account was "hacked" in May 2025 by the group, which began posting non-consensual intimate images of women.
A trend, not an exception
Mia Moglie isn't the first digital front in Italy's ongoing fight against non-consensual intimate content in the form of images or videos. This reflects a trend observed among other Italian groups previously shut down for similar activities.
A network, initially known as Dipreisti, has resurfaced several times under new names on various platforms. “Dipreisti,” which has nearly 16,000 members, including people seeking sexual favors in exchange for photos of naked women, has been shut down a dozen times, but continues to reappear on various platforms such as OnlyFans and Telegram. Despite repeated bans, it has resurfaced under new names and formats, including titles such as La Bibbia 5.0 and Stupro tua Sorella (“Rapes your sister”).
This cat-and-mouse game highlights a critical weakness in current digital regulations and enforcement: the rapid reappearance of such groups across platforms and the unwillingness or inability of some platforms, particularly encrypted ones like Telegram, to fully cooperate with investigations.
The legal landscape and the way forward
Italy's "revenge pornography" law, adopted in 2019, criminalizes the unauthorized dissemination of sexual content. Sentences can carry up to six years in prison. But legislation alone is not enough. As investigators point out, practical technical tools capable of identifying, blocking, and removing content reproduced in digital spaces are still lacking. Without them, bans remain temporary solutions rather than lasting deterrents.
In Italy, human rights advocates are calling for a national hotline for victims of visual abuse, specialized police training, and faster reporting tools on social media. Others are calling for proactive monitoring systems that flag repeat offenders before groups like Mia Moglie can grow to tens of thousands of members.
For victims, however, no policy can erase the harm already done.
The images and videos are still there, circulating in places they never imagined. They can shut down a group, but they can't stop them from migrating to other platforms or restore the privacy and dignity of victims who have been violated.
A global look at online sexual violence
The cases of Mia Moglie and Dipreisti in Italy, Mask Park Treehole Forum in China, Nth Room in South Korea, and Soweto Shaderoom in South Africa, among others, illustrate how digital platforms can amplify abuse when digital security is neglected. These virtual spaces exploit personal vulnerabilities, objectify and dehumanize, and further reinforce gender-based violence in both online and offline spheres. For now, authorities say the investigation is ongoing, but the underlying issue remains platform accountability and the proper enforcement of laws regarding online and technology-facilitated violence.
This episode raises urgent questions for platform operators:
Can technology and algorithms be designed to proactively detect and dismantle abusive networks, even on encrypted services?
Will encrypted services like Telegram collaborate more proactively with law enforcement, or do we need stricter regulatory frameworks?
And finally, in a broader sense:
Will societies recognize this as a violation of civil rights and personal dignity, not just a technical problem, and respond accordingly?
Should the technology platforms that host these communities be held accountable, or should the law and policymakers be held accountable for failing to provide adequate protection to their citizens or the people who manage and contribute to these hives?
As long as these questions remain unanswered, experts warn, the cycle will continue. Groups will be closed, only to reappear elsewhere, and women's online safety will remain at risk.
