NGOs warn media freedom under threat in Italy

NGOs express concerns over the continuous criminalization of defamation, which Meloni has exploited against a prominent journalist, and a right-wing MP’s proposed purchase of a major news agency

Media freedom in Italy has been under growing attack since Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right administration assumed office, a group of European NGOs said Friday after an urgent fact-finding expedition.

The NGOs voiced worry over the continuous criminalization of defamation, which Meloni has personally exploited against a prominent journalist, as well as a right-wing MP’s proposed purchase of a major news agency.

The two-day expedition, organized by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), was initially intended for the fall but was moved forward owing to “worrying developments,” said Andreas Lamm of the European Centre for News and Media Freedom (ECPMF) at a news briefing.

The ECPMF’s monitoring project, which analyzes occurrences impacting media freedom such as legal action, editorial interference, and physical attacks, saw an increase in Italy’s numbers from 46 in 2022 to 80 in 2023. There have been 49 instances this year.

Meloni, the far-right Brothers of Italy party leader, became the head of a hard-right coalition government in Oct. 2022.

The NGOs are particularly concerned about the rising political control over the RAI public broadcaster, which resulted in a walkout by its journalists last month.

“We knew RAI was always politicized… but now we’re at a new level,” said Renate Schroeder, director of the Brussels-based EFJ.

The NGO delegates, who will produce a formal report in the coming weeks, advised that RAI install totally independent directors, among other things.

They also expressed alarm over the Italian government’s inability to decriminalize defamation, despite pleas for reform from the Constitutional Court. Meloni successfully sued writer Roberto Saviano last year for questioning her stance on refugees.

“In a European democracy, a prime minister does not respond to criticism by legally intimidating writers like Saviano,” said David Diaz-Jogeix of London’s Article 19.

He stated that a proposed amendment under consideration in parliament, which would replace jail with penalties of up to 50,000 euros, “does not meet the bare minimum of international and European standards of freedom of expression.”

The experts also warned of a possible purchase of the AGI news agency by a firm owned by a member of parliament from Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party—a plan that provoked journalist strikes.

According to Beatrice Chioccioli of the International Press Institute, it poses a “significant risk for the editorial independence” of the agency.

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium was disappointed that no members of Meloni’s alliance replied to attempts to meet with them. They cautioned that Italy might violate a new EU media freedom rule, which was enacted in part to address concerns about declining standards in countries such as Hungary and Poland.

Schroeder stated that next month’s European Parliament elections might be a “turning point,” warning that a rise in far-right authority throughout the union “will have an influence also on media freedom.”

Source: AFP