Intimidation and harassment of journalists.

 

In Italy a major concern for media freedom in 2021 was the safety of journalists reporting from anti-vaccine and anti-green pass protests. MapMF recorded 45 alerts, with 72 attacked persons or entities related to media. Hostility against the press including multiple serious physical attacks were documented by MapMF, with some journalists badly injured. Intimidation and harassment of journalists by anti-vaccine groups, both online and offline, was widespread, worsening an already dangerous climate for journalist’s safety. Meanwhile, 26 Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report – 2021 Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report – 2021; 27 vexatious lawsuits and SLAPPs targeting media outlets and threats against individual journalists from organised crime groups remain major concerns. Attacks and threats against journalists covering COVID-19-related protests were documented across the country, from Bo‐ logna and Florence to Rome. Overall, 36% of all alerts in Italy in 2021 were recorded at demonstrations, with 47% of all cases linked in some way to COVID-19. Leading newspapers and the public broadcaster were routinely accused of spreading lies and “fake news” about the pandemic.

 In August, Francesco Giovannetti, a video journalist for la Repubblica, was threatened with death and punched in the face by a protester during an anti-green pass demonstration in Rome. In October 2021, Alessandro Serranò, a photojournal‐ ist working for daily newspaper la Repub‐ blica, was attacked with a shovel by an anti-vaccine protester in Romet. In November, Gianpaolo Sarti from newspaper Il Piccolo was headbutted by a protester while he was documenting the “no green pass” demonstration in Trieste. MapMF also documented cases of tar‐ geted online abuse by anti-vaccine groups. In October, Giovanni Balugani, a journalist for Gazzetta di Modena, be‐came victim of online harassment by antivaccine trolls. Surveillance of journalists also emerged as a serious issue when in March 2021, it was revealed that numerous Italian journalists had their phones wiretapped by Sicilian prosecutors in Trapani as part of their investigation into sea rescue NGOs and charities. Prosecutors recorded dozens of conversations between journal ists and NGO workers, breaching source anonymity. Media freedom groups said the move was one of the most serious attacks on the press in recent Italian history. Concerns over source protection in‐ creased further in June after the Lazio regional administrative court issued a ruling ordering the investigative programme, Report, to reveal its sources for a report on the management of public funds in the Lombardy region. Physical attacks and intimidation of journalists remained a concern. MapMF recorded seven cases in which journalists suffered serious injuries. In April, journal‐ ist Carmen La Gatta and her TV crew were reporting on illegal occupation of houses in the north-western city of Cuneo when they were attacked by a man wielding a metal chain. In October, an envelope con‐ taining a shotgun cartridge was sent to the editorial offices of RAI in Florence. In October 2021, Michele Sardo from Palermo Live was attacked and left un‐ conscious by two men while documenting a fire that had broken out near a petrol station. Threats to journalists’ safety from organised crime groups remain a major is‐ sue in Italy, where dozens of journalists remain under police protection. In an ex‐ ample of these threats, in June police dis‐ covered that a convicted mafia boss had instructed his son to “silence” journalist Marilena Natale. In October, it was re‐ vealed that award-winning investigative journalist Sigfrido Ranucci had been placed under strengthened police protection after it was discovered that a plot had been hatched by a jailed drug dealer to hire people to kill him. Online harassment and threats against media, especially women journalists, remains an engrained problem. Silvia Bergamin, of Il Mattino di Padova, was subjected to a wave of sexist insults and called a “prostitute” on Facebook after writing about a drug-charge arrest. Threats from far-right groups resurfaced in March when Carlo Verdelli, chief editor of one of Italy’s most well-respected newspapers, La Repubblica, was placed under police protection after receiving repeated threats from neo-Nazi groups. In October, journalist Annalisa Cuzzocrea, a correspondent for daily newspaper la Repubblica, was subjected to a torrent of abuse and harassment online after the leader of the Brothers of Italy party posted a tweet about her. MapMF also documented other forms of legal pressure on the media. In September, the online newspaper Fanpage.it received a legal notice from a court in Rome that ordered the media outlet to remove from its website videos of an investigation it conducted into a well-known case of embezzlement involving the Lega Nord. Vexatious lawsuits remain a major issue. In July, the newspaper Domani received a letter by ENI, the partly state-owned oil company, demanding that it pay €100,000 within 10 days, otherwise ENI would sue the newspaper and claim for damages to its reputation in court. In October, Guardian correspondent LorenzoTondo received notification of the official start of his trial for two civil lawsuits brought against him by Italian prosecutor Calogero Ferrara.