A year after the Constitutional Court ruled on the unconstitutionality of prison sentences in cases of defamation through the press, on 22 June 2021 the Court issued a follow-up decision declaring art. 13 of Law 47/1948 (Press Law) not compliant with the Constitution.
The Media Freedom Rapid Response and partner organisations welcome the launch of an investigation into the wiretapping of journalists and their sources in Sicily. However, a robust, swift and systematic investigation will be essential for rebuilding trust and ensuring that all journalists, sources and legal professionals in Italy are protected.
Part of IPI’s series, Europe media freedom in the shadow of Covid, Gabriele Cruciata analyses how the pandemic has created a perfect storm for struggling independent reporters in Italy
MFRR partners call for the abolition of prison sentences for criminal defamation as part of necessary and overdue legislative reform.
Day 2 of the Summit will shine a spotlight on the rule of law and SLAPPs as experts discuss initiatives to counter abusive litigation, impunity for crimes against journalists, and disinformation laws.
Partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) have published the latest MFRR Monitoring Report, analysing the 813 media freedom violations recorded in Europe in 2022.
A group of media freedom and journalists’ organisations have published a statement outlining a list of measures that must be adopted in order to protect SLAPP victims in Italy.
Safety of journalists
The undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today express their concern about the increasing number of attacks against journalists across Germany, particularly in the context of anti-vaccine demonstrations. We call for better safety measures and protection as well as thorough investigations of attacks against journalists covering such demonstrations. Moreover, preventative measures are needed to stop such attacks from happening. Finally, we encourage media workers to report press and media freedom violations.
