This is the best summary I could come up with:
A Milan court has ruled that journalist Giulia Cortese must pay Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni €5,000 for mocking her height on social media.
In October 2021, Meloni said she would pursue legal action against Cortese for posting an edited image depicting the Italian PM in front of a framed photograph of late fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
“It has been a very stressful period which lasted three years,” Cortese told POLITICO, saying that she has been subject to insults — some of which are explicitly sexist — and threats against herself and her young daughter from Meloni’s supporters.
In October last year, a Rome court fined anti-mafia reporter Roberto Saviano €1,000 after he insulted Meloni’s attitude toward migrants on a television show.
Cortese accused Meloni of trying to silence critical journalistic voices, “a bit like [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán, who by her own admission inspires her,” she said.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, said in June it is monitoring “negative trends” in Italy’s media landscape, though the official report has since been delayed.
The original article contains 473 words, the summary contains 176 words. Saved 63%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Transphobes should face the same fines if not higher as it is more harmful for society.
That’s low, even for her.
In October last year, a Rome court fined anti-mafia reporter Roberto Saviano €1,000 after he insulted Meloni’s attitude toward migrants on a television show.
Wait, what?
Saviano, who reached worldwide fame with his first book, Gomorrah, and who has established himself as one of the most prominent left-wing intellectuals in Italy, was taken to court by Meloni after calling her “a bastard” over her controversial immigration policies. S
Maybe not the best style but clearly in the context of criticizing her shite politics.
However, worse than the fine is that he apparently lost his spot on TV too.
I think it’s fairly common to have some degree of anti-insult laws. However, “bastard” is a pretty mild insult and there’s additional context.
In Germany, there’s Beamtenbeleidigung i.e. insult of a representative of state, like police. But that wouldn’t apply to Meloni as head of state anyway, afaik, it only applies to career officials rather than elected officials.
Roberto is just following a long standing Italian tradition of insults
https://www.vroma.org/vromans/hwalker/VRomaCatullus/043.html
This is exactly why free speech should be very very close to absolute.