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Aaccording to last press freedom audit by Reporters Without Borders, Italy crashed its international rankings. A deciding factor in the report was the willingness of the far-right government of Georgia Meloni to sell a state-controlled news agency to a press baron – one who happens to be an MP in her ruling coalition. But in one of the European Union’s most important member states, as Ms Meloni’s far-right coalition consolidates power, there are many other reasons to fear for the future of free expression and media impartiality.
This week, a philosopher from Rome’s Sapienza University will become the latest public intellectual to appear in court after being accused of defamation by a government figure. On a talk show, Donatella Di Cesare described the language used by Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida (Ms Meloni’s brother-in-law) as having a neo-Nazi tone. Under Italy’s draconian libel laws, she risks a substantial prison sentence if she is ultimately found guilty in a criminal court.
Mrs. Di Cesare is far from an isolated case. Ms Meloni herself is pursuing an aggravated defamation suit on similar grounds against an 81-year-old historian. She has too taken the writer and journalist Roberto Saviano in court and sued journalists in the leftist newspaper Domani.
In broadcasting, the picture is also gloomy. Control of state broadcaster Rai has for decades been seen as a political prize by future governments. But Ms. Meloni’s administration appears to be ruthlessly abusing its new powers. The CEO of the corporation, Giampaolo Rossiis a close ally of Meloni, an admirer of Viktor Orbán and a one-time apologist for Vladimir Putin.
A year after his appointment, internal strife erupted into the open. Last week, irritated journalists began a series of strikes partly because of working conditions, but also in response to alleged editorial interference and pressure from Ms Meloni’s government and its officials. At a press conference, Enrica Agostini, Senior Political Reporter, said that in 25 years at Rai she had “never felt pressure and censorship like now”. Meanwhile, in April one of Italy’s leading authors, Antonio Scurati, accused Rai to censorship after an invitation to give a talk against fascism to mark Italy’s Liberation Day was withdrawn at the last minute.
Mrs. Meloni is upset respect for Mr. Orbán, the self-proclaimed champion of “illiberal democracy“, is well known. Since taking office 18 months ago, she has – unlike the Hungarian prime minister – positioned herself confidently in Europe’s political mainstream on issues such as Ukraine. But at home, her government’s domineering determination to police public squares and harass critics comes straight from Orbán’s playbook. Museums and other cultural institutions have also been subjected to of inappropriate and at times aggressive pressure from the government.
The suspended Mr Scurati achieved international fame through his 2018 novel M: The Son of the Century, based on the rise of Benito Mussolini. But in one an interview after the election victory of Ms Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party in 2022, he drew a distinction between 20th-century fascism and the modern radical right, noting: “The real danger 1715548077 it affects not the survival of democracy, but the quality of that democracy. As his own recent experience seems to underline, this was a prescient judgment.
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