Meloni heads Italy’s most rightwing government since the second world war. Italy’s criminal code punishes with a fine ranging from €1,000 to €5,000 anyone who “publicly defames the republic”, which includes the government, parliament, the courts and the army.
I’ve been surprised that some western countries have laws like this. A French woman has also been fined for insulting Macron.
It’s almost like making laws against free speech is a slippery slope.
It can be, but not all speech is free, not even in the US.
Them’s fighting words.
Nope. There’s a bunch of thoughts and speech acts that don’t contribute anything. There’s a reason the swastika and other Nazi codes/insignia are outlawed in Germany. “We just need to exterminate the Jews for a better life for everyone else” is similarly outlawed under an incitement to genocide clause.
There are very good reasons to put barriers on absolutely free speech.
The public prosecution department in Germany let someone’s home got searched because he called a conservative politician “Du bist so 1 Pimmel” (“you are such a penis”) via Twitter.
At the same time the public prosecution department in Germany regularly refuses to take action against hate speech when aimed against other people. Even other politicians.
And since many people do not really understand our jurisdiction, they believe it is enough to protest against the police.