I have long been critical of the erosion of free speech in Italy and other Western European countries, including the use of criminal libel laws against critics of the police or government. This week a Milan court has ordered a journalist to pay Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni damages of 5,000 euros ($5,465) for making fun of her in a social media post. Giulia Cortese was also given a suspended fine of 1,200 euros for a joke on X. It is the latest absurd example of the expanding crackdown on free speech.
In my new book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss how this anti-free speech wave from Europe has finally reached our shores. The rapid loss of free speech in countries like Italy, France, Germany, and Great Britain should be a wake up call for all Americans to protect this “indispensable right.”
There are many in the United States, including Hillary Clinton, who want to replicate the anti-free speech laws in the United States.
This is a prototypical example of how vague laws are being used to crackdown on everyone from journalists to politicians to even comedians.
Cortese posted a comment on Twitter in Oct. 2021 about Meloni’s height. She objected to the government’s attack on “freedom of expression and journalistic dissent.”
Cortese published a mocked-up photo of Meloni with a picture of the late fascist leader Benito Mussolini in the background. As she clashed with the Prime Minister, she then later added “you don’t scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you’re only 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall. I can’t even see you.”
Notably, Meloni supported the legal action despite the fact that she is part of a party long in the minority and threatened by such laws. She also successfully sued best-selling author Roberto Saviano after he insulted her on television in 2021 over her position on illegal immigration.