Journalists’ perspectives on the presence of hate speech in Italian local news media: counter-hate speech strategies and risks - Reports

In this article, Francesca Rizzuto examines how Italian local journalists experience hate speech in the digital environment and how they respond to it. Based on 10 in-depth interviews, the study explores how social media has transformed local news practices and how online hostility affects journalists, both professionally and personally.

Digital surveillance shaping the public sphere. The case of the use of spyware on journalists - Reports

This paper examines how intrusive spyware targeting journalists undermines the public sphere. Through a comparative analysis of Greece, Italy, and Spain, it assesses legal safeguards against surveillance under Article 4 of the European Media Freedom Act. Findings reveal fragmented national frameworks with inadequate journalist protections, generating chilling effects that threaten investigative journalism and democratic accountability across EU member states.

Spywares are a threat to democracy - Article

A new study of spyware attacks on journalists warns Europe: the European Media Freedom Act will not be enough to stop it

E io ti querelo. Una storia della libertà di espressione in dieci processi - Books

"E io ti querelo. Una storia della libertà di espressione in dieci processi" is a book written by Caterina Malavenda and published by Marsilio in 2025, presenting a compelling account of media freedom in contemporary Italy through ten landmark legal cases. Malavenda, a Cassation lawyer specializing in media law, chronicles her career defending journalists and major news outlets in defamation proceedings since moving to Milan in the 1980s.

Information as a Public Good: why media freedom is essential to democracy - Reports

This Legal and Policy Report, authored by Andrea Oleandri and produced within the STRIVE 2026 project supported by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) and the European Union, argues that the quality of a democracy depends on the quality of its information space, and that the traditional framing of press freedom—centred on protecting individual expression from state censorship—is no longer sufficient to guarantee a genuinely free and pluralistic media environment

MFRR Italy mission report: Growing political pressure on Rai, concerns over media pluralism, and escalating legal harassment and digital threats - Reports

MFRR report focusing on Italy presents findings from the mission conducted in Rome in March 2026, in addition to insights from ongoing monitoring activities

Greece: Abusive lawsuit against independent newsrooms should be dismissed - Article

The undersigned Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners condemn the filing of abusive legal action by Air Mediterranean against the Greek investigative newsroom Mediterranean Institute for Investigative Reporting (MIIR), the newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton (EfSyn) as well as their editors and directors

Italy: Landmark ruling in press freedom case - Article

The Media Freedom Rapid Response consortium welcomes the acquittal of Roberto Saviano in a case brought by Minister Matteo Salvini, a landmark ruling for press freedom in Italy

Fist published by OBCT, also available in Italian

EU rule of law erodes further as Commission struggles to respond - Article

Examining the most significant infringements of justice, corruption, media freedom, and checks and balances across the European Union (EU) in 2025,  the Liberties Rule of Law Report 2026 has found stagnation as the dominant trend in the rule of law, with very limited progress among Member States

Liberties Rule of Law Report 2026 - Italy - Reports

Examining the most significant infringements of justice, corruption, media freedom, and checks and balances across the European Union (EU) in 2025,  the Liberties Rule of Law Report 2026 has found no progress within the justice system and the anti-corruption framework, and a regression in media freedom and democratic checks and balances