Is press freedom really protected in Italy?
Beyond official statements and the facts on the ground
At her annual press conference, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni firmly reaffirmed that “freedom of the press is a fundamental pillar of any democracy and must be protected.”
These are important words. But they should be measured not only against political promises and symbolic initiatives, but also against the reality of press freedom in Italy and the legislative gaps that continue to undermine it.
The Prime Minister highlighted measures aimed at improving security and insurance coverage for journalists reporting from conflict zones, as well as the establishment of a national day of remembrance for journalists killed in the line of duty.
While these initiatives carry undeniable symbolic and human value, it is legitimate to ask whether they address the structural challenges that continue to threaten freedom of expression in Italy. This question is particularly pressing in light of the figures released by Ossigeno per l’Informazione just one day before the Prime Minister’s press conference. According to the organisation, 677 journalists were threatened in Italy in 2025 – a 31% increase compared with the previous year. SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) continued to target journalists with alarming frequency, while acts of violence affected 83.7% of those threatened, marking a further increase of 13.4%.
SLAPPs: a legislative gap that cannot be ignored
Despite the government’s stated commitment to press freedom, Italy still lacks dedicated anti-SLAPP legislation.
SLAPPs – Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation – are civil or criminal legal actions brought not to seek justice, but to intimidate, drain time and resources, and silence journalists, activists and others who scrutinise power or speak out on matters of public interest.
In a recent CILD policy brief on SLAPPs, we highlighted how the absence of preventive safeguards and effective procedural remedies constitutes a significant gap in Italy’s legal framework, leaving media professionals, civil society actors and ordinary citizens vulnerable to abusive litigation that can seriously restrict freedom of expression.
SLAPPs are far from a theoretical concern. Abusive lawsuits and retaliatory legal actions delay and obstruct journalistic work, creating a chilling effect long before any court reaches a final decision. This phenomenon has been repeatedly documented by international monitoring organisations and is widely recognised as one of the factors undermining press freedom in Italy.
Last December, the Italian Parliament adopted a delegation law to transpose several EU directives, including the Anti-SLAPP Directive. However, the Directive’s scope is limited to cross-border cases, which represent only a small proportion of SLAPPs and are generally among the least impactful. As we have previously argued in an article published in l’Unità, this was a missed opportunity to adopt comprehensive legislation capable of addressing the problem in a meaningful way.
International indicators on press freedom
Official declarations recognising press freedom as a cornerstone of democracy are undoubtedly important. Yet international rankings paint a far less reassuring picture.
According to Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, Italy’s position has steadily declined in recent years. After ranking 41st in 2023, the country fell to 46th in 2024 and then to 49th in 2025 out of around 180 countries assessed.
RSF attributes this downward trend to a number of persistent concerns, including ongoing threats against journalists, the widespread use of SLAPPs, proposed “gag laws” that could restrict reporting, and political interference in the media landscape.
Last year, several Italian journalists and civil society activists were also targeted with the Paragon spyware, software reportedly sold exclusively to government authorities. To this day, it remains unclear who ordered the surveillance and for what purpose.
These concerns were also highlighted in the Media Freedom Report 2025 published by Liberties, for which CILD authors the national chapter on Italy.
The report concludes that Italy continues to face structural shortcomings affecting media pluralism, editorial independence and journalists’ working conditions, all essential components of a genuinely free and independent press.
Words must be matched by action
There is no doubt that freedom of the press is a constitutional value and one that is consistently reaffirmed in official statements. Yet symbolic initiatives and political commitments are not enough. Protecting press freedom requires concrete legislative action and meaningful improvements to the conditions in which journalists work every day.
