The overall attitude of the members of the ruling coalition towards media professionals testifies a drift which fails to take into consideration the public interest and pluralism and a lack of consideration for the Case Law of the Court of Strasbourg and its interpretation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). [...] In the run-up to the European elections in June 2024, the review of the so-called par The Italian government owns almost 100 percent of Rai shares through the Ministry of Economy and Finan- condicio regulation to the benefit of the majority parties further exacerbated the capture of the public ser- ces. [...] analytical challenges posed by a lack of a database and the lack of a common definition of SLAPPs, the 2024 study of the EU Parliament on the incidence of SLAPPs across the EU identified Italy as the country with the Established in 1950, AGI is one of Italy’s leading news agencies, with ownership held solely by the state-con- highest number of cases among those examined. [...] Attacks on press freedom, the criminalisation of climate dissent, and the repression of high school students’ protests cannot be dissociated from the attempts of the ruling coalition to reshape the cultural and historical narrative of the country. [...] Firstly, the mission’s unfortunate conclusion is that, amid ongoing tensions between the media and political actors, the ruling coalition members were unwilling to engage in discussions with the delegation about the The MFRR consortium believes that the new amendment violates the right to seek, receive, and impart infor- state of media freedom in the country.
- Pages
- 14
- Published in
- Italy
Table of Contents
- SILENCING THE FOURTH ESTATE ITALY S DEMOCRATIC DRIFT 1
- Acknowledgments 2
- TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
- Introduction 3
- Mapping Media Freedom data on Italy 4
- Media Capture 5
- Public Service Media Radiotelevisione Italiana Rai 5
- New CEO and increased attacks on editorial independence 5
- Key Findings 5
- Rai governance and funding 6
- Rai and the European Media Freedom Act 6
- Par condicio rules 7
- Legal Threats 8
- Vexatious lawsuits and ongoing reform of defamation laws 8
- News Agency AGI 8
- Defamation and the Balboni Bill 9
- Civil society and journalists organisations 10
- Conclusions and Recommendations 11
- Recommendations on Rai with regard to the EMFA 11
- Recommendations for fair rules for Rai during election time 11
- Recommendations for media markets conflicts of interest 11
- Recommendations on defamation reform and transposition of 11
- Anti-SLAPP Directive 11
- Annex I List of stakeholders 12
- Institutional actors 12
- Civil Society members 12
- Journalists 12
- Annex II Members of the MFRR Mission 13
- Annex III Selection of Press Clips 13
- Annex IV Stakeholders translations 14
