2025. Mid Report Ossigeno/3 – Monitoring Summary. Proposals. Dossier. Links

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How to understand the Observatory’s latest findings and compare historical data – Legal assistance and support for defendants

In the first six months of 2025, Ossigeno recorded 361 people threatened, compared to 203 in the same period in 2024 (+78%) – Intimidation from politicians has increased – Lombardy is the region with the most threats

OSSIGENO October 28, 2025 – In 2025, the trend in intimidation and threats against journalists aimed at gagging them in Italy was very disquieting. This is according to monitoring data from the Ossigeno per l’Informazione observatory, published on the occasion of the UN’s World Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. This is confirmed by the numbers and the emergence of more restrictive and invasive forms of intimidation, in addition to the serious ones that, in the absence of remedies and countermeasures, have manifested themselves in epidemic form since at least 2006. In the first six months of 2025, direct surveys by the Ossigeno per l’Informazione observatory reported double the number of threats compared to the same period last year. (Read the 2024 full report in three parts) The increase was 78%. Ossigeno recorded 361 threats compared to 203 in the first half of 2024. There was also a 46% increase in episodes of intimidation that could be classified as deliberate violations of freedom of information: 107 incidents compared to 73. Threats from public figures have increased.

Comparison with data from the same period in 2024 shows that:

• Lombardy, Lazio, and Sicily remain the regions with the highest number of people at risk. With 3% of total victims, Abruzzo worsens its ranking in terms of intimidation (calculated as the ratio between the number of threatened individuals and the journalist population): it ranks third in the ranking.
• Forms of intimidation from public officials have increased by 10%. In particular, over half come from representatives of local institutions (municipal or regional), who mainly resort to spurious lawsuits  (in a third of cases), social media threats, or insults, the latter increasing compared to the first half of 2024 (+17%).
• The tendency not to report physical and verbal abuse is increasing. In 81% of cases, victims prefer not to go to court. In the same period in 2024, one in two victims did not report it.
• Incidents of aggression have increased by 10%, especially against local journalists documenting situations of environmental degradation and illegal activity.
• Spurious lawsuits, or SLAPPs, remain the most common form of abuse. The second most common form of intimidation against journalists, after warnings.
• Gender-based threats directed at female journalists are decreasing, but the tendency to not report them is growing.

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View statistics and graphics, read the Ossigeno reports and the names of those threatened on the Italian version of Ossigeno’s website