Italy

SLAPP and democracy, side effects and collateral damage

10/01/2022

Strategic lawsuits against public participation heavily impact on the citizens' right to be informed - that is why society needs to be able to respond to and to prevent this kind of abuse of legal tools. Here is a series of analysis and perspectives inspired by cases involving journalists and human rights defenders in Italy

Who is afraid of journalists? Report of the MFRR fact-finding mission to Italy 4-6 April 2022

From 4 to 6 April a delegation of the MFRR, Media Freedom Rapid Response, was in Italy for an intense 3-day of meetings organised by OBC Transeuropa

Interviewing Journalism II. Needs and gaps in support for women and local journalists

10/05/2022

As part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response, OBC Transeuropa published a new needs and gaps analysis building on the findings of the research carried out in 2021. The study, conducted by Maria Francesca Rita, focuses on the needs of women and local journalists and the gaps in the existing support mechanisms

MFRR to hold press freedom mission to Italy

30/03/2022

From 4 to 6 April, representatives of all partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) will be in Italy for a fact-finding mission focused on two main topics: safety of journalists and state protection measures on one side, and SLAPPs against journalists and the need for comprehensive legislative reforms of the framework of defamation and media freedom on the other

The Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Selected OSCE Participating States

The report provides an analysis of findings of ODIHR's assessment visits to the Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, Mongolia and Montenegro, undertaken as part of the first country-specific assessment cycle focused on human rights defenders

ENI's abuse of SLAPPs: a letter to the European Commission

29/04/2021

Together with several ngos, we co-signed a letter to the European Commission highlighting the need for the upcoming European Commission’s initiative on SLAPPs to include a legislative proposal for an anti-SLAPP Directive that will protect all watchdogs from SLAPPs and legal intimidation tactics, currently used extensively by fossil fuel companies in Europe. On this occasion, the attention goes to the use of SLAPPs by the partly government-owned Italian oil company Eni Spa (“Eni”), who is suing the Italian paper Il Fatto Quotidiano for 29 articles on the company's activities.

Italy: Journalists face fresh violence covering ‘green pass’ protests

15/10/2021

The undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) are highly concerned about yet another series of violent attacks and threats to journalists and media workers covering protests against the government’s pandemic-related measures across Italy

Journalists in Residence: the program is starting for the second year in Milan

31/08/2021

Journalists and media workers active in the UE Member States and Candidate Countries can apply for support to the program JiR Milan: within the second year of the Media Freedom Rapid Response, OBC Transeuropa and QCode Mag will host a journalist in distress, offering training, covering travel and lodging expenses and promoting their professional skills

Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2020

An interactive tool to browse and compare data from the 2020 Reuters Institute Digital News Report

Prison for defamation: a partially good news, the decision of the Italian Constitutional Court

23/06/2021

The MFRR partners welcome the decision of the Italian Constitutional Court but ask for more engagement by the Parliament: a reform of media laws is necessary to protect media freedom in the country