Number of journalists threatened in Italy doubled in 2022

The number of journalists threatened in Italy doubled in 2022 over the previous year, the Ossigeno per l’Informazione (Oxygen for Information) watchdog group said.

In the first nine months of last year, it said, some 564 journalists were threatened, 100% more than the 288 threatened in the same period in 2021.

Threats via frivolous lawsuits increased sharply, what the watchdog said was the Italian side of that “incorrect use of the judicial system” to curb freedom of expression that was denounced by UN cultural body UNESCO in a recent report.

    The number of complaints submitted to law enforcement agencies by those threatened and the number of lawsuits for defamation in the press that were reckless and instrumental both increased by about double, it said.

Physical attacks and intimidation were also significantly higher in the first three quarters of 2022, the Ossigeno report said.

Via ANSA