Censorship in Italy
Encyclopedia
Italy
has one of the lowest levels of press freedom in Europe. A 2009 report by Freedom House
classified Italy as "partly free", the only country in western Europe, also ranking it behind most former communist states of eastern Europe.
Censorship is applied in television such as in press for several reasons.
, nor did it end with it, but it had heavy influence in the life of Italians under the Regime.
The main goals of this activity were, concisely:
Censorship fought ideological and defeatist contents, and any other work or content that could enforce disturbing cultural themes.
In literature, editorial industries had their own controlling servants steadily on site, but sometimes it could happen that some texts reached the libraries and in this case an efficient organization was able to capture all the copies in a very short time.
An important note deserves the question of foreign languages: with the "Autarchia" (the general maneuver for self-sufficiency) they had been banned, and any attempt to use a non-Italian word resulted in a formal censoring action.
Censorship did not however impose heavy limits on foreign literature, and many of the foreigner authors were freely readable. Those authors could freely frequent Italy and even write about it, with no reported troubles.
In 1930 it was forbidden to distribute books that contained Marxist, Socialist or Anarchist like ideologies, but these books could be collected in public libraries in special sections not open to the general public. The same happened for the books that were sequestrated. All these texts could be read under authorization for scientific or cultural purposes, but it is said that this permission was quite easy to obtain. In 1938 there were public bonfire
s of forbidden books, enforced by fascists militias ("camicie nere
"): any work containing themes about Jewish culture, freemasonry, communist, socialist ideas, were removed also by libraries (but it has been said that effectively the order was not executed with zeal, being a very unpopular position of the Regime). To avoid police inspections, many librarians preferred to hide or privatelly sell the texts, which in many cases were found at the end of the war .
Most of the intellectuals that after the war would have freely expressed their anti-fascism, were however journalists during fascism, and quite comfortably could find a way to work in a system in which news directly came from the government (so-called "veline", by the tissue-paper used for type-writer copies) and only had to be adapted to the forms and the styles of each respective target audience.
Newer revisionists talk about a servility of journalists, but are surprisingly followed in this concept by many other authors and by some leftist ones too, since the same suspect was always attributed to Italian press, before, during and after the Ventennio, and still in recent times the category has not completely demonstrated yet its independence from "strong powers". A well known Italian journalist writer, Ennio Flaiano
, certainly an anti-fascist, used to say that journalists don't need to care of "that irrelevant majority of Italians".
Independent (illegal) press used clandestine print and distribution, and were mainly connected with the activities of local political groups.
The control on legitimate papers was practically operated by faithful civil servants at the printing machines and this allows reporting a common joke affirming that any text that could reach readers had been "written by the Duce and approved by the foreman".
Fascist censorship promoted papers with wider attention to mere chronology of delicate political moments, to distract public opinion from dangerous passages of the government. Press then created "monsters" or focused on other terrifying figures (murderers, serial killers, terrorists, pedophiles, etc.). When needed, an image of a safe ordered State was instead to be stressed, then police were able to capture all the criminals and, as a famous topic says, trains were always in perfect time. All these maneuvers were commonly directed by MinCulPop directly.
After fascism, democratic republic did not change the essence of the fascist law on press, which is now organized as it was before, like the law on access to the profession of journalist remained unaltered.
About satire
and related press, Fascism was not more severe, and in fact a famous magazine, Marc'Aurelio, was able to live with little trouble. In 1924-1925, during the most violent times of fascism (when squads used brutality against opposition) with reference to the death of Giacomo Matteotti
killed by fascists, Marc'Aurelio published a series of heavy jokes and "comic" drawings describing Mussolini finally distributing peace; eternal peace, in this case. Marc'Aurelio however would have turned to a more integrated tone during the following years and in 1938 (the year of the racial laws) published tasteless anti-Semitic contents.
Not all the letters were opened, but not all those read by censors had the regular stamp that recorded the executed control. Most of the censorship was probably not declared, to secretly consent further police investigations.
Chattering en plein air was indeed very risky, as a special section of investigators dealt with what people was saying on the roads; an eventual accusation by some policeman in disguise was evidently very hard to disprove and many people reported of having been falsely accused of anti-national sentiments, just for personal interests of the spy. Consequently, after the first cases, people commonly avoided talking publicly.
This is also due to some facts: first of all the war had brought many Italians far from their houses, creating a need for writing to their families that previously did not exist. Secondarily, in a critic situation as a war can be, obviously military authorities were compelled to a major activity to control eventual internal oppositions, spies or (most important) defeatists. Finally, the result of the war could not allow fascists to hide or delete these documents (which it is supposed might have happened for other ones before the war), that remained in public offices where they were found by occupying troops. So we can now read thousands of letters that soldiers sent to their families, and these documents revealed as a unique resource for sociology (and general knowledge about those times).
The work was daily organized, resumed and composed in a note that daily was received by Mussolini or his apparatus and by the other major authorities.
Notes reported, i.e., what soldiers could think about relevant events, what was the opinion in Italy, similar arguments.
, which should have been forbidden not being in Italian language, but it could not be forbidden being one of the symbols of the Savoy house.
It has to be said that in most of the small villages, life continued as before, since the local authorities used a very familiar style in executing such orders. Also in many urban realities, civil servants used little zeal and more humanity. But the general effect was indeed relevant.
In theatre censorship caused a revival of "canovaccio" and Commedia dell'arte: given that all the stories had to obtain a prior permission before being performed, stories were summarized and officially were improvisations on a given theme.
showing use of drugs in the Italian Parliament
As with all the other media of Italy, the Italian television industry is widely considered both inside and outside the country to be overtly politicized
. According to a December 2008 poll, only 24% of Italians trust television news programmes, compared unfavourably to the British rate of 38%, making Italy one of only three examined countries where online sources are considered more reliable than television ones for information.
Italy put an embargo
on foreign bookmaker
s over the Internet (in violation of EU market rules) by mandating certain edits to DNS host files of Italian ISPs. Italy is also blocking access to websites containing child pornography.
Advertisements promoting Videocracy
, a Swedish documentary examining the influence of television on Italian culture over the last 30 years, was refused airing purportedly because it says the spots are an offense to Premier Silvio Berlusconi
.
Movies or anime and cartoons are often modified or cut on national television networks such as Mediaset
or RAI
. An example of this occurred on October 8, 2009, when Brokeback Mountain
was aired on Rai 2 during prime time. Several scenes featuring mildly sexual (or even just romantic) behavior of the two protagonists were cut. This act was severely criticized by Italian LGBT activism organizations and by the audience itself.
(aired by Rai 3, a state-owned channel). The program had tackled sensitive issues in the past that exposed the journalists to legal action (for example the authorization of buildings that did not meet earthquake-resistance specifications, cases of overwhelming bureaucracy, the slow process of justice, prostitution, health care scandals, bankrupt bankers secretly owning multimillion-dollar paintings, waste mismanagement involving dioxine toxic waste, cancers caused by asbestos
anti-fire shieldings (Eternit
) and environmental pollution caused by a coal
power station
near the city of Taranto
). An accumulation of lawsuits against the journalists in the absence of the funds to handle them could bring the program to an end.
Before 2004, in the "Freedom of the Press" report, published by the American organization Freedom House, Italy had always been classified as "Free" (regarding the freedom of press). In the year 2004 it was demoted to "Partly Free", due to 20 years of failed political administration, the controversial Gasparri's Law of 2003 and above all the possibility for prime minister to influence the RAI
(Italian state-owned Radio-Television), a conflict of interest
s among the most blatant in the World.
Italy's status was upgraded as free in 2007 and 2008 under the Prodi II Cabinet
, to come back as party free since 2009 with the Berlusconi IV Cabinet
. Freedom House noted that Italy constitutes "a regional outlier" and particularly quoted the "increased government attempts to interfere with editorial policy at state-run broadcast outlets
, particularly regarding coverage of scandals surrounding prime minister Silvio Berlusconi
." In their 2011 report, Freedom House continued to list Italy as partly free and ranked the country 24th out of 25 in the Western European region, ahead of Turkey
.
Defamation is a crime in Italy with the possibility of large fines and/or prison terms. Thus anti-defamation actions may intimidate reporters and encourage self-censorship
.
In February 2004, the journalist Massimiliano Melilli was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a 100,000 euro
fine for two articles, published on 9 and 16 November 1996, that reported rumors of "erotic parties" supposedly attended by members of Trieste high society.
In July, magistrates in Naples placed Lino Jannuzzi, a 76-year-old journalist and senator, under house arrest, although they allowed him the possibility of attending the work of the parliament during daytime. In 2002, he was arrested, found guilty of "defamation through the press ("diffamazione a mezzo stampa"), and sentenced to 29 months’ imprisonment because of articles that appeared in a local paper for which he was editor-in-chief. The articles revealed irresponsible operation of the judiciary and highlighted what Jannuzzi called wrong and unjust sentences. Therefore, it was widely perceived that his sentence was given as revenge by the judiciary. Following heavy criticism from home and abroad, in February 2005 Italian President Ciampi
pardoned Jannuzzi.
, downgraded Italy's ranking from 'Free' to 'Partly Free' due to Berlusconi's influence over RAI, a ranking that, in "Western Europe" was shared only with Turkey . Reporters Without Borders
states that in 2004, "The conflict of interests involving prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his vast media empire was still not resolved and continued to threaten news diversity". In April 2004, the International Federation of Journalists
joined the criticism, objecting to the passage of a law vetoed by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
in 2003, which critics believe is designed to protect Berlusconi's reported 90% control of the Italian television system.
and Michele Santoro
, and comedian Daniele Luttazzi
. Berlusconi said that they "use television as a criminal mean of communication". They lost their jobs as a result. This statement was called by critics "Editto Bulgaro
".
The TV broadcasting of a satirical programmme called RAIot was censored in November 2003 after the comedienne Sabina Guzzanti
, made outspoken criticism of the Berlusconi media empire.
, Berlusconi's television group, has stated that it uses the same criteria as the public (state-owned) television RAI
in assigning a proper visibility to all the most important political parties and movements (the so-called 'Par Condicio')—which has been since often disproved.
On June 24, 2009 during the Confindustria
young members congress in Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy
, Silvio Berlusconi invited advertisers to interrupt or boycott advertising contracts with the magazines and newspapers published by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso
, in particular the newspaper la Repubblica
and the news-magazine L'espresso
, calling the publishing group "shameless" for fueling the economic crisis by bringing attention to it. He also accused them of making a "subversive attack" against him. The publishing group announced possible legal proceedings against Berlusconi to protect the image and the interests of the group.
In October 2009, Reporters Without Borders
Secretary-General Jean-François Julliard declared that Berlusconi "is on the verge of being added to our list of Predators of Press Freedom," which would be a first for a European leader. In the event Berlusconi was not declared a Predator of Press Freedom, but RWB continued to warn of "the continuing concentration of media ownership
, displays of contempt and impatience on the part of government officials towards journalists and their work" in Italy. Julliard added that Italy will probably be ranked last in the European Union in the upcoming edition of the RWB press freedom index. Italy was in fact ranked last in the EU in RWB's "Press Freedom Index 2010".
in December 2010.
Currently internet filtering in Italy is applied against child pornography, gambling, and some P2P web-sites. Starting in February 2009, The Pirate Bay
website and IP Address
are unreachable from Italy, blocked directly by Internet Service Providers. A controversial verdict issued by the Court of Bergamo and later confirmed by the Supreme Court, allowed the blocking, stating that it was useful in order to prevent copyright infringement. Pervasive filtering is applied to gambling websites that do not have a local license to operate in Italy.
Several legal tools are in development to monitor and censor Internet access and content. Examples include the Romani law, a special law proposed by parliament after Facebook cases of a group against Prime Minister Berlusconi.
An anti-terrorism law
, amended in 2005 by then-Minister of the Interior
Giuseppe Pisanu
after the terrorists attacks in Madrid and London
, restricts the opening of new Wi-Fi Hotspot
s. Interested entities must first apply for permission to open the Hotspot at the local Police Headquarters
. The law requires potential hotspot users to present an identity document
. This has inhibited the opening of hotspots across Italy, with the number of hotspots 5 times lower than France and lead to an absence of Municipal wireless networks. A proposed law
should facilitate the opening of and access to Wi-Fi Hotspots, although it is not clear how this would be accomplished. In 2009, only 32% of Italian Internet users have Wi-Fi access.
were hidden and the website was blocked by its administrators, as a protest against paragraph 29 of the "DDL intercettazioni" (Wiretapping Bill). The proposed bill would empower anyone who believes themselves to have been offended by the content of a web site to enforce publication of a reply, uneditable and uncommented, on the same web site, within 48 hours and without any prior evaluation of the claim by a judge or to face a €12,000 fine. Some see it as an attempt by government to censor bloggers.
On October 4th, 5th, and 6th all pages on the Italian version of Wikipedia redirected to a statement opposing the proposed legislation. The statement is available in a number of languages, wikilinked above Cara lettrice, caro lettore. On October 7th the Italian Wikipedia pages were again available, but a notice about the proposed legislation was still displayed at the top of pages.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
has one of the lowest levels of press freedom in Europe. A 2009 report by Freedom House
Freedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
classified Italy as "partly free", the only country in western Europe, also ranking it behind most former communist states of eastern Europe.
Censorship is applied in television such as in press for several reasons.
Censorship in Italy under Fascism (1922-1944)
Censorship in Italy was not created with FascismFascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, nor did it end with it, but it had heavy influence in the life of Italians under the Regime.
The main goals of this activity were, concisely:
- Control over the public appearance of the regime, also obtained with the deletion of any content that could allow opposition, suspects, or doubts on fascism.
- Constant check of the public opinion as a measuring instrument of consensus.
- Creation of national and local archives (schedatura) in which each citizen was filed and classified depending on his ideas, his habits, his relationship and his eventual shameful acts or situations; in this sense, censorship was used as an instrument for the creation of a state of police.
Censorship fought ideological and defeatist contents, and any other work or content that could enforce disturbing cultural themes.
Censorship in public communications
This branch of the activity was mainly ruled by the Ministero della Cultura Popolare (Ministry of popular culture), commonly abbreviated as Min. Cul.Pop. (with a weird assonance). This administration had competence on all the contents that could appear in newspapers, radio, literature, theatre, cinema, and generally any other form of communication or art.In literature, editorial industries had their own controlling servants steadily on site, but sometimes it could happen that some texts reached the libraries and in this case an efficient organization was able to capture all the copies in a very short time.
An important note deserves the question of foreign languages: with the "Autarchia" (the general maneuver for self-sufficiency) they had been banned, and any attempt to use a non-Italian word resulted in a formal censoring action.
Censorship did not however impose heavy limits on foreign literature, and many of the foreigner authors were freely readable. Those authors could freely frequent Italy and even write about it, with no reported troubles.
In 1930 it was forbidden to distribute books that contained Marxist, Socialist or Anarchist like ideologies, but these books could be collected in public libraries in special sections not open to the general public. The same happened for the books that were sequestrated. All these texts could be read under authorization for scientific or cultural purposes, but it is said that this permission was quite easy to obtain. In 1938 there were public bonfire
Bonfire
A bonfire is a controlled outdoor fire used for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Celebratory bonfires are typically designed to burn quickly and may be very large...
s of forbidden books, enforced by fascists militias ("camicie nere
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
"): any work containing themes about Jewish culture, freemasonry, communist, socialist ideas, were removed also by libraries (but it has been said that effectively the order was not executed with zeal, being a very unpopular position of the Regime). To avoid police inspections, many librarians preferred to hide or privatelly sell the texts, which in many cases were found at the end of the war .
Censorship and press
It has been said that Italian press self-censored itself before the censorship commission could do it. Effectively the actions against press were formally very few, but it has been noted that due to press hierarchical organization, the regime felt to be quite safe, controlling it by the direct naming of directors and editors.Most of the intellectuals that after the war would have freely expressed their anti-fascism, were however journalists during fascism, and quite comfortably could find a way to work in a system in which news directly came from the government (so-called "veline", by the tissue-paper used for type-writer copies) and only had to be adapted to the forms and the styles of each respective target audience.
Newer revisionists talk about a servility of journalists, but are surprisingly followed in this concept by many other authors and by some leftist ones too, since the same suspect was always attributed to Italian press, before, during and after the Ventennio, and still in recent times the category has not completely demonstrated yet its independence from "strong powers". A well known Italian journalist writer, Ennio Flaiano
Ennio Flaiano
Ennio Flaiano , was an Italian screenwriter, playwright, novelist, journalist and drama critic...
, certainly an anti-fascist, used to say that journalists don't need to care of "that irrelevant majority of Italians".
Independent (illegal) press used clandestine print and distribution, and were mainly connected with the activities of local political groups.
The control on legitimate papers was practically operated by faithful civil servants at the printing machines and this allows reporting a common joke affirming that any text that could reach readers had been "written by the Duce and approved by the foreman".
Fascist censorship promoted papers with wider attention to mere chronology of delicate political moments, to distract public opinion from dangerous passages of the government. Press then created "monsters" or focused on other terrifying figures (murderers, serial killers, terrorists, pedophiles, etc.). When needed, an image of a safe ordered State was instead to be stressed, then police were able to capture all the criminals and, as a famous topic says, trains were always in perfect time. All these maneuvers were commonly directed by MinCulPop directly.
After fascism, democratic republic did not change the essence of the fascist law on press, which is now organized as it was before, like the law on access to the profession of journalist remained unaltered.
About satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
and related press, Fascism was not more severe, and in fact a famous magazine, Marc'Aurelio, was able to live with little trouble. In 1924-1925, during the most violent times of fascism (when squads used brutality against opposition) with reference to the death of Giacomo Matteotti
Giacomo Matteotti
Giacomo Matteotti was an Italian socialist politician. On 30 May 1924, he openly spoke in the Italian Parliament alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections, and denounced the violence they used to gain votes...
killed by fascists, Marc'Aurelio published a series of heavy jokes and "comic" drawings describing Mussolini finally distributing peace; eternal peace, in this case. Marc'Aurelio however would have turned to a more integrated tone during the following years and in 1938 (the year of the racial laws) published tasteless anti-Semitic contents.
Censorship in private communications
Quite obviously, any telephone call was at risk of being intercepted and, sometimes, interrupted by censors.Not all the letters were opened, but not all those read by censors had the regular stamp that recorded the executed control. Most of the censorship was probably not declared, to secretly consent further police investigations.
Chattering en plein air was indeed very risky, as a special section of investigators dealt with what people was saying on the roads; an eventual accusation by some policeman in disguise was evidently very hard to disprove and many people reported of having been falsely accused of anti-national sentiments, just for personal interests of the spy. Consequently, after the first cases, people commonly avoided talking publicly.
Military censorship
The greatest amount of documents about fascist censorship comes from the military commissions for censorship.This is also due to some facts: first of all the war had brought many Italians far from their houses, creating a need for writing to their families that previously did not exist. Secondarily, in a critic situation as a war can be, obviously military authorities were compelled to a major activity to control eventual internal oppositions, spies or (most important) defeatists. Finally, the result of the war could not allow fascists to hide or delete these documents (which it is supposed might have happened for other ones before the war), that remained in public offices where they were found by occupying troops. So we can now read thousands of letters that soldiers sent to their families, and these documents revealed as a unique resource for sociology (and general knowledge about those times).
The work was daily organized, resumed and composed in a note that daily was received by Mussolini or his apparatus and by the other major authorities.
Notes reported, i.e., what soldiers could think about relevant events, what was the opinion in Italy, similar arguments.
Italians reaction against censorship
The fact that Italians were well aware of the fact that any communication could be intercepted, recorded, analyzed and eventually used against them, caused that censorship in time became a sort of usual rule to consider, and soon most people used jargons or other conventional systems to overtake the rules. Opposition was expressed in satiric ways or with some geniously studied legal tricks, one of which was to sing publicly the Hymn of SardiniaSardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, which should have been forbidden not being in Italian language, but it could not be forbidden being one of the symbols of the Savoy house.
It has to be said that in most of the small villages, life continued as before, since the local authorities used a very familiar style in executing such orders. Also in many urban realities, civil servants used little zeal and more humanity. But the general effect was indeed relevant.
In theatre censorship caused a revival of "canovaccio" and Commedia dell'arte: given that all the stories had to obtain a prior permission before being performed, stories were summarized and officially were improvisations on a given theme.
Modern Censorship in Italy
One of most important cases of censorship in Italy was the banning of one episode of TV show Le IeneLe Iene
Le Iene is a television program broadcast on the Italian channel Italia 1 . Beginning in 1996, it is a comedy/satirical show, with sketches and reports into political affairs and consumer issues. It is based on an Argentine show Caiga Quien Caiga.The first series was hosted by Simona Ventura,...
showing use of drugs in the Italian Parliament
As with all the other media of Italy, the Italian television industry is widely considered both inside and outside the country to be overtly politicized
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. According to a December 2008 poll, only 24% of Italians trust television news programmes, compared unfavourably to the British rate of 38%, making Italy one of only three examined countries where online sources are considered more reliable than television ones for information.
Italy put an embargo
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
on foreign bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
s over the Internet (in violation of EU market rules) by mandating certain edits to DNS host files of Italian ISPs. Italy is also blocking access to websites containing child pornography.
Advertisements promoting Videocracy
Videocracy (film)
Videocracy is a 2009 documentary film directed by Swedish-Italian Erik Gandini about Italian television and its impact on Italian culture and politics, and about Silvio Berlusconi's powerful position in these....
, a Swedish documentary examining the influence of television on Italian culture over the last 30 years, was refused airing purportedly because it says the spots are an offense to Premier Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
.
Movies or anime and cartoons are often modified or cut on national television networks such as Mediaset
Mediaset
Mediaset S.p.A., known as Gruppo Mediaset in Italian, is an Italian-based media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country...
or RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
. An example of this occurred on October 8, 2009, when Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee. It is a film adaptation of the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx with the screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry...
was aired on Rai 2 during prime time. Several scenes featuring mildly sexual (or even just romantic) behavior of the two protagonists were cut. This act was severely criticized by Italian LGBT activism organizations and by the audience itself.
The "Report" case
In 2009 the board of state television RAI cut funds for legal assistance to the investigative journalism TV program ReportReport (italian news tv show)
Report is an independent journalistic TV program in Italy, aired on Rai 3, a channel of the Italian national network RAI for the first time in 1997...
(aired by Rai 3, a state-owned channel). The program had tackled sensitive issues in the past that exposed the journalists to legal action (for example the authorization of buildings that did not meet earthquake-resistance specifications, cases of overwhelming bureaucracy, the slow process of justice, prostitution, health care scandals, bankrupt bankers secretly owning multimillion-dollar paintings, waste mismanagement involving dioxine toxic waste, cancers caused by asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
anti-fire shieldings (Eternit
Eternit
Eternit is the registered trademark for fibre cement. This has caused fibre cement to be known under the "Eternit" brand. Though, this is not to be confused, "Eternit" is only a trademark for fibre cement....
) and environmental pollution caused by a coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
near the city of Taranto
Taranto
Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....
). An accumulation of lawsuits against the journalists in the absence of the funds to handle them could bring the program to an end.
"Freedom of the Press" report
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
(Italian state-owned Radio-Television), a conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
s among the most blatant in the World.
Italy's status was upgraded as free in 2007 and 2008 under the Prodi II Cabinet
Prodi II Cabinet
The Prodi II Cabinet was the cabinet of the government of Italy from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008, a total of 722 days, or 1 year, 11 months and 21 days...
, to come back as party free since 2009 with the Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet
Berlusconi IV Cabinet has been the cabinet of the government of Italy from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011.As of July 2011, it was composed of 24 ministers, 4 deputy ministers and 39 under-secretaries, for a total of 67 members.-Sources:*...
. Freedom House noted that Italy constitutes "a regional outlier" and particularly quoted the "increased government attempts to interfere with editorial policy at state-run broadcast outlets
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
, particularly regarding coverage of scandals surrounding prime minister Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
." In their 2011 report, Freedom House continued to list Italy as partly free and ranked the country 24th out of 25 in the Western European region, ahead of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
Anti-defamation actions
Defamation is a crime in Italy with the possibility of large fines and/or prison terms. Thus anti-defamation actions may intimidate reporters and encourage self-censorship
Self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own work , out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority...
.
In February 2004, the journalist Massimiliano Melilli was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a 100,000 euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
fine for two articles, published on 9 and 16 November 1996, that reported rumors of "erotic parties" supposedly attended by members of Trieste high society.
In July, magistrates in Naples placed Lino Jannuzzi, a 76-year-old journalist and senator, under house arrest, although they allowed him the possibility of attending the work of the parliament during daytime. In 2002, he was arrested, found guilty of "defamation through the press ("diffamazione a mezzo stampa"), and sentenced to 29 months’ imprisonment because of articles that appeared in a local paper for which he was editor-in-chief. The articles revealed irresponsible operation of the judiciary and highlighted what Jannuzzi called wrong and unjust sentences. Therefore, it was widely perceived that his sentence was given as revenge by the judiciary. Following heavy criticism from home and abroad, in February 2005 Italian President Ciampi
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
dr. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is an Italian politician and banker. He was the 73rd Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and was the tenth President of the Italian Republic from 1999 to 2006...
pardoned Jannuzzi.
Mediaset and Berlusconi
Berlusconi's extensive control over the media has been widely criticised by both analysts and press freedom organisations, who allege Italy's media has limited freedom of expression. The Freedom of the Press 2004 Global Survey, an annual study issued by the American organization Freedom HouseFreedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
, downgraded Italy's ranking from 'Free' to 'Partly Free' due to Berlusconi's influence over RAI, a ranking that, in "Western Europe" was shared only with Turkey . Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
states that in 2004, "The conflict of interests involving prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his vast media empire was still not resolved and continued to threaten news diversity". In April 2004, the International Federation of Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International Federation of Journalists, IFJ, is a global union federation of journalists' trade unions—the largest in the world. The organization aims to protect and strengthen the rights and freedoms of journalists...
joined the criticism, objecting to the passage of a law vetoed by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
dr. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi is an Italian politician and banker. He was the 73rd Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and was the tenth President of the Italian Republic from 1999 to 2006...
in 2003, which critics believe is designed to protect Berlusconi's reported 90% control of the Italian television system.
"Editto Bulgaro"
Berlusconi's influence over RAI became evident when in Sofia, Bulgaria he expressed his views on journalists Enzo BiagiEnzo Biagi
Enzo Biagi was an Italian journalist and writer.-Biography:Biagi was born in Lizzano in Belvedere, and began his career as a journalist in Bologna. Active in journalism for six decades and author of some eighty books, Biagi won numerous awards, among which the 1979 Saint Vincent prize and the...
and Michele Santoro
Michele Santoro
Michele Santoro is an Italian journalist, anchorman, television host and presenter.He also served till October 2005 as Member of the European Parliament for Southern Italy with the Olive Tree, part of the Socialist Group and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice...
, and comedian Daniele Luttazzi
Daniele Luttazzi
Daniele Luttazzi , real name Daniele Fabbri, is an Italian theater actor, writer, satirist, illustrator and singer/songwriter. His stage name is a homage to musician and actor Lelio Luttazzi...
. Berlusconi said that they "use television as a criminal mean of communication". They lost their jobs as a result. This statement was called by critics "Editto Bulgaro
Editto Bulgaro
The Editto Bulgaro , also going under the name of "the Bulgarian Ukase" in Italian newspapers, was a statement of Silvio Berlusconi, at the time Prime Minister of Italy, about the behavior of some journalists and television stars in the Italian media system, which was pronounced during a press...
".
The TV broadcasting of a satirical programmme called RAIot was censored in November 2003 after the comedienne Sabina Guzzanti
Sabina Guzzanti
Sabina Guzzanti is an Italian satirist, actress, writer and producer whose work is devoted to examining social and political life in Italy.-Early life:...
, made outspoken criticism of the Berlusconi media empire.
"Par condicio"
MediasetMediaset
Mediaset S.p.A., known as Gruppo Mediaset in Italian, is an Italian-based media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country...
, Berlusconi's television group, has stated that it uses the same criteria as the public (state-owned) television RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
in assigning a proper visibility to all the most important political parties and movements (the so-called 'Par Condicio')—which has been since often disproved.
On June 24, 2009 during the Confindustria
Confindustria
Confindustria is the Italian employers' federation, founded in 1910. It groups together more than 113,000 voluntary member companies, accounting for nearly 4,200,000 individuals. It aims to help Italy's economic growth, assisting, in doing so, its members...
young members congress in Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy
Santa Margherita Ligure
thumb|250px|Villa Durazzo.Santa Margherita Ligure is a comune in the province of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about 35 km southeast of Genoa, in the Tigullio traditional area.left|220px|thumb|16th century castle....
, Silvio Berlusconi invited advertisers to interrupt or boycott advertising contracts with the magazines and newspapers published by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso
Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso
Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso S.p.A. is an Italian Media conglomerate, founded in 1955 and based in Rome, Italy and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange.- Shareholding :* CIR Group - 50,852%* Carlo Caracciolo - 10,008%...
, in particular the newspaper la Repubblica
La Repubblica
la Repubblica is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. Founded in 1976 in Rome by the journalist Eugenio Scalfari, as of 2008 is the second largest circulation newspaper, behind the Corriere della Sera.-Foundation:...
and the news-magazine L'espresso
L'Espresso
l'Espresso is an Italian newsmagazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies, the other being Panorama. Since the latter has been acquired by right-wing tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi, l'Espresso enjoys the reputation of being the main politically independent newsmagazine...
, calling the publishing group "shameless" for fueling the economic crisis by bringing attention to it. He also accused them of making a "subversive attack" against him. The publishing group announced possible legal proceedings against Berlusconi to protect the image and the interests of the group.
In October 2009, Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
Secretary-General Jean-François Julliard declared that Berlusconi "is on the verge of being added to our list of Predators of Press Freedom," which would be a first for a European leader. In the event Berlusconi was not declared a Predator of Press Freedom, but RWB continued to warn of "the continuing concentration of media ownership
Concentration of media ownership
Concentration of media ownership refers to a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media...
, displays of contempt and impatience on the part of government officials towards journalists and their work" in Italy. Julliard added that Italy will probably be ranked last in the European Union in the upcoming edition of the RWB press freedom index. Italy was in fact ranked last in the EU in RWB's "Press Freedom Index 2010".
Internet censorship
Italy is listed as engaged in selective Internet filtering in the social area and no evidence of filtering was found in the political, conflict/security, and Internet tools areas by the OpenNet InitiativeOpenNet Initiative
The OpenNet Initiative is a joint project whose goal is to monitor and report on internet filtering and surveillance practices by nations. The project employs a number of technical means, as well as an international network of investigators, to determine the extent and nature of government-run...
in December 2010.
Currently internet filtering in Italy is applied against child pornography, gambling, and some P2P web-sites. Starting in February 2009, The Pirate Bay
The Pirate Bay
The Pirate Bay is a Swedish website which hosts magnet links and .torrent files, which allow users to share electronic files, including multimedia, computer games and software via BitTorrent...
website and IP Address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
are unreachable from Italy, blocked directly by Internet Service Providers. A controversial verdict issued by the Court of Bergamo and later confirmed by the Supreme Court, allowed the blocking, stating that it was useful in order to prevent copyright infringement. Pervasive filtering is applied to gambling websites that do not have a local license to operate in Italy.
Several legal tools are in development to monitor and censor Internet access and content. Examples include the Romani law, a special law proposed by parliament after Facebook cases of a group against Prime Minister Berlusconi.
An anti-terrorism law
Anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation designs various types of laws passed in the aim of fighting terrorism. They usually, if not always, follow specific bombings or assassinations...
, amended in 2005 by then-Minister of the Interior
Italian Minister of the Interior
This is a list of Italian Ministers of the Interior since 1861.-Kingdom of Italy:-Italian Republic:...
Giuseppe Pisanu
Giuseppe Pisanu
Giuseppe Pisanu is an Italian politician, longtime member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Christian Democracy and then for Forza Italia...
after the terrorists attacks in Madrid and London
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
, restricts the opening of new Wi-Fi Hotspot
Hotspot (Wi-Fi)
A hotspot is a site that offers Internet access over a wireless local area network through the use of a router connected to a link to an Internet service provider...
s. Interested entities must first apply for permission to open the Hotspot at the local Police Headquarters
Polizia di Stato
The Polizia di Stato is one of the national police forces of Italy.It is the main police force for providing police duties and it is also responsible for patrolling motorways , railways , airports , customs as well as certain waterways, and assisting the local police...
. The law requires potential hotspot users to present an identity document
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
. This has inhibited the opening of hotspots across Italy, with the number of hotspots 5 times lower than France and lead to an absence of Municipal wireless networks. A proposed law
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
should facilitate the opening of and access to Wi-Fi Hotspots, although it is not clear how this would be accomplished. In 2009, only 32% of Italian Internet users have Wi-Fi access.
Censorship of Wikipedia
On October 4, 2011, following a decision adopted by the community, the contents of the Italian version of WikipediaItalian Wikipedia
The Italian Wikipedia is the Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on May 11, 2001 and first edited on June 11, 2001. As of 2011 it has over articles and more than registered accounts...
were hidden and the website was blocked by its administrators, as a protest against paragraph 29 of the "DDL intercettazioni" (Wiretapping Bill). The proposed bill would empower anyone who believes themselves to have been offended by the content of a web site to enforce publication of a reply, uneditable and uncommented, on the same web site, within 48 hours and without any prior evaluation of the claim by a judge or to face a €12,000 fine. Some see it as an attempt by government to censor bloggers.
On October 4th, 5th, and 6th all pages on the Italian version of Wikipedia redirected to a statement opposing the proposed legislation. The statement is available in a number of languages, wikilinked above Cara lettrice, caro lettore. On October 7th the Italian Wikipedia pages were again available, but a notice about the proposed legislation was still displayed at the top of pages.
During Fascist era (1922-1944 circa)
- Charlie ChaplinCharlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
, The Great DictatorThe Great DictatorThe Great Dictator is a comedy film by Charlie Chaplin released in October 1940. Like most Chaplin films, he wrote, produced, and directed, in addition to starring as the lead. Having been the only Hollywood film maker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound films, this was...
(comic/satira/drama movie 1940 (U.S.A.), blocked by Italian fascist regime until 1943 (in southern Italy) and 1945 (in northern Italy). - Note: All communist, socialist or Russian-made films were forbidden.
From 1948 to 1988
- Stanley KubrickStanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
, A Clockwork OrangeA Clockwork OrangeA Clockwork Orange is a 1962 dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess. The novel contains an experiment in language: the characters often use an argot called "Nadsat", derived from Russian....
, (black comedy, sci-fi movie 1972 (UK)), not showing in Italian television until 1999 (Pay television) and until 2007. - Bernardo BertolucciBernardo BertolucciBernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
, Last Tango in ParisLast Tango in ParisLast Tango in Paris is a 1972 Italian romantic drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci which portrays a recent American widower who takes up an anonymous sexual relationship with a young, soon-to-be-married Parisian woman...
(drama movie 1973 (France/Italy)), blocked by censorship until 1987 - Ruggero DeodatoRuggero DeodatoRuggero Deodato is an Italian film director and screen writer, best known for directing violent and gory horror films. Deodato is infamous for his 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust.- Biography :...
, Cannibal HolocaustCannibal HolocaustCannibal Holocaust is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato from a screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici. Filmed in the Amazon Rainforest and dealing with indigenous tribes, it was cast mostly with United States actors and filmed in English to achieve wider distribution...
(horror movie 1979 (Italy)), not showing in Italian television - Moustapha AkkadMoustapha AkkadMoustapha Akkad was a Syrian American film producer and director, best known for producing the series of Halloween films and directing Mohammad, Messenger of God and Lion of the Desert. He was killed along with his daughter Rima Akkad Monla in 2005 in Amman, Jordan by a suicide bomber.-Early life...
, Lion of the DesertLion of the DesertLion of the Desert is a 1981 Libyan historical action film starring Anthony Quinn as Libyan tribal leader Omar Mukhtar, a Bedouin leader fighting the Italian army in the years leading up to World War II and Oliver Reed as Italian General Rodolfo Graziani, who attempted to defeat Mukhtar. It was...
(historic movie 1981 (U.S.A.)), blocked by Italian prime minister Giulio AndreottiGiulio AndreottiGiulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
, finally broadcast in 2009 (by the satellite-Pay television SKYSky ItaliaSky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian digital satellite television platform owned by News Corporation launched on 1 August 2003, when the former platforms TELE+ and Stream TV merged together...
only).
From 1992 to present
- Massimiliano Mazzotta, OILOilAn oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
(documentary on Sarroch SarasSaras S.p.A.Saras Raffinerie Sarde SpA is an Italian energy provider founded in 1962, operating in the area of oil refining and the production of electricity, located in the island of Sardinia.-History:...
oil plant environmental impact), blocked by Italian magistrate - Susan Gray, Andrea Cairola, Citizen Berlusconi (documentary on Berlusconi's trials), not showing in Italian television until 2009 (Pay television only).
- Jan Henrik Stahlberg, Bye bye Berlusconi (comic movie 2006 (Germany)), not distributed in Italy
See also
- CensorshipCensorshipthumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
- Freedom of the pressFreedom of the pressFreedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
- Reporters Without BordersReporters Without BordersReporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
- Movimento Italiano GenitoriMovimento Italiano GenitoriThe Italian Parents Movement is an Italian non-profit, lobbyist, advocacy organization in Rome, Italy. Its mission is the protection of children and claim more rights for the parents.-Purpose:...
External links
- There is no censorship in Italy, but... Some example of Italian censorship.
- The pirate bay protest against Italian illegal censorship from The Pirate BayThe Pirate BayThe Pirate Bay is a Swedish website which hosts magnet links and .torrent files, which allow users to share electronic files, including multimedia, computer games and software via BitTorrent...
official blog.