Part A:
Italy is a relatively free country in regards to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. When Italy rewrote their constitution in the 1940s after Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship, those in charge made sure that censorship would have no place in the media in Italy. Although Italy guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press, the country is still scarred from Mussolini’s rise and immediately after fascism ended the piazza that Mussolini used to hold rallies in became deserted and turned into a parking lot. Now the piazza, Piazza Venezia, is a roundabout so that no rallies may ever take place there again. Clearly, the Italian people were impacted by Mussolini and the fascist period so although they constitutionally allow free speech, there are rules in place to ensure a Mussolini-esque leader never rises in Italy again.
Italy has followed France and Germany recently and implemented a law to combat Holocaust denial. This law was adopted in 2016, a lot later than many of the other countries that have come up with laws to punish those who deny the Holocaust but it is still a historical law to come about in Italian politics. During World War II, Italy was allied with Germany and allowed for thousands of Jewish people to be rounded up all over the country. So, Italy played a part in the Holocaust under Mussolini and therefore has taken a stricter stance on hate speech than other countries. This new legislation modifies an existing law that already punishes propaganda and incitement to violence on racist, ethnic or religious grounds. The old law also targets those who deny the existence of genocide or crimes against humanity as defined by the International Court of Justice. The law passed in 2016 adds to this law and will give prison sentences of up to six years for spreading Holocaust-denial propaganda. This law is a huge step in the right direction for Italy and helps to curb hate speech. Although some may think it is too heavy on censorship, many also believe this new legislation will help to prevent neo-fascist groups from popping up in Italy. Because this law is fairly recent, there is not a lot of data so far on its effectiveness but nonetheless, it is a step in the right direction.
Part B:
Italy’s relationship with Russia goes back to Mussolini and Stalin and has continued to evolve since these leaders were in power. After World War II, Italy and Russia, then the USSR, restored full diplomatic relations in October of 1944. Russia and Italy have always had a close relationship, as Italy is one of Russia’s most important economic partners.
Recently, Italy has become a lot closer with Russia especially with the current political climate in Italy that has been leaning more conservative since the recent election. Silvio Berlusconi was Prime Minister multiple times in Italy and his government in the 2000s heightened the relationship between Italy and Russia due to personal ties between Berlusconi and Putin. Due to this relationship, Russia has had a privileged relationship with Italy.
Italy has clashed with the EU recently by vetoing to renew the sanctions against Russia. Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, is pro-Moscow and believes that the sanctions against Russia are economically and socially hurting Italy and costing Italians billions of euros. Salvini is the head of the Northern League, the part that won the last election in Italy and although Italy may have been against the sanctions towards Russia for a long time this staunchly pro-Russian leader demonstrates yet another change in Italian politics in recent years. The Northern League won the majority in Italy’s most recent elections and it is not a coincidence that in 2017, Putin’s party signed a deal with the Northern League in order to strengthen political cooperation. Many worry that Russia used fake news to impede in Italy’s last election and political leaders such as the former Prime Minister and Joe Biden called Russia out on potentially helping the Northern League and Five Star Movement and influencing electoral outcomes. Whatever the case may be, Italy has become increasingly closer to Russia and that includes Russia’s role in Italian politics.
Bleich, Erik. The Freedom to Be Racist?: How the United States and Europe Struggle to Preserve Freedom and Combat Racism. Oxford University Press, 2011.
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/italy
https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/holocaust-denial-law-adopted-in-italy-1.5393802
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1036518/russia-news-italy-guiseppe-conte-vladimir-putin-US-sanctions
https://www.article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Italy-Responding-to-%E2%80%98hate-speech%E2%80%99_3.4.pdf
It is interesting that Italy rewrote their Constitution with the intention of having no media censorship while simultaneously moving to ban the freedom of assembly by turning the Piazza Venezia into a roundabout, effectively silencing those who would use it as a meeting place. However, the historical origins of the Piazza and the impact that Mussolini had on the Italian people explain why they would make such changes, including implementing the 2016 Holocaust denial law. I would be interested to see the total effect that the Holocaust denial law has on preventing neo-facist groups from arising, and whether or not it was a deterrent. I also like how you discussed the historical origins of Russia and Italy, and how their close ties still remain to this day due to the rise of far right parties.
I found it very interesting that the Italian government got rid of the piazza where Mussolini held rallies. To me, this seems to suggest a sort of restriction on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, for citizens need a space to gather. However, at the same time, I can understand Rome’s choice to abolish the piazza due to its strong negative connotation.
You may want to consider what, if any, backlash there has been against the recent laws forbidding Holocaust denial and racist propaganda. Are there political groups which have opposed these laws? Has the constitutionality of this legislation been taken to Court?
Furthermore, avoid vague terms in your section about Russia. You sentence “Berlusconi’s government heightened the relationship between Italy and Russia due to personal ties and Russia has a privileged relationship with Italy” could be expanded on and made more clear to an uninformed reader.