Italian Bloggers in Danger
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Italian Bloggers in Danger
If you aren’t Italian, the words “paragraph 29? will most likely mean nothing to you; but if you are, then you should know that it’s a part of a very controversial legislation putting the county’s blogging in danger.
Italian media seem to have been facing major challenges recently. Just another month the Italian press went on a 24h strike protesting so-called “gagging law,” intended to forbid publishing transcripts of listening devices and phone talks. This is combined alongside with anti-wiretapping legislation looking like a positive way to protect privacy. However, many consider the legislation a double-edged sword.
Lately, the protests arose in the Internet against resembling laws that are suspected to harm freedom of the media. For example, the Wiretapping Bill contains a provision in section 1, paragraph 29 saying that written journalists, including bloggers, could face penalties of up to 25,000 euros in case they fail to comply with complaints. In details, people responsible for information sites would be requested to correct posts (and also comments and whatever else there’s on the site) within 2 days from any complaint concerning the site content.
If you at least have a personal blog receiving the slightest feedback, you can instantly understand what kind of effect it would have on journalism in the Internet. You don’t like the content – just send a complaint and it will have to be removed. The Italian news sections like ours will undoubtedly die the next day, because even now if the site gets complaints of any news published, it’s in most cases about being anti-copyright and supporting pirates rather than artists. Once the law is enacted, the damaging effect would be seen at once, as the copyright owners will clamp down the pirate news with their complaints, arguing that the criticism is incorrect and the authors would have to either censor themselves completely or face penalties for “non-compliance.”
The critics also point out that there was supposed to be an amendment, suggesting to lengthen the time and lower the size of penalties ten times, but it never came to be.
Italy is now seeing a movement taking root named “No Gag Law to the Net”, arguing that the Article 1, paragraph 29 violates the free speech right. We’ll hope this kind of legislation neither becomes law in Italy nor spreads around the world.
