In Italy 516 journalists threatened in 2024 -The Ossigeno Annual Report / Part 1

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It’s the tip of an  iceberg  – Who are they- Who threats them and why – Where are the most threats – The intimidating pressure – The  news blackout

OSSIGENO March 20^th  2025 – In 2024, Ossigeno per l’Informazione detected 516 intimidations and threats against the same number of journalists, bloggers and other media operators  in Italy and reported them one by one, defining them as violations of the right to information (264 confirmed and 262 highly probable). The intimidations were carried out, in three cases out of four with warnings of various types (insults, offensive writings, posts on social media), 15% by criminals, 21% by the political-institutional world and 25% by the football world. 22% of intimidations were carried out with frivolous lawsuits  and other specious legal actions (SLAPPS), half of which came from politicians and public administrations. Two thirds of the intimidations occurred in just 5 regions: Lazio (16%), Veneto (15%), Sicily (11%) and Lombardy (11%), Liguria (9%). Liguria, Veneto and Umbria are instead the regions with the highest intimidation pressure, based on the percentage of those threatened compared to the number of working journalists.

These data, in addition to describing the difficulties and suffering of many Italian journalists who deal with uncomfortable facts , indicate that in 2024 intimidations and threats to journalists continued unabated, confirming that they are a deep-rooted endemic phenomenon, a disease that continues to develop, which in the absence of countermeasures continues to affect a large number of individuals and to obscure many news of public interest.

The 516 people threatened in 2024, whose names Ossigeno has named and whose experiences are documented, are just the tip of an iceberg. Faced with a phenomenon of such vast proportions, the documentation of which would require resources far greater than those available, Ossigeno set itself the goal of documenting 500 of them, as in the previous year, to have an objective and representative sample of the ways in which intimidation occurs in Italy.

The most significant trends that emerged from the monitoring are indicated below.

THE BLACKOUT OF NEWS – Much journalistic information circulates without difficulty in Italy. But many other pieces of information that should circulate equally freely are blacked out due to intimidation, threats and unjustifiable retaliation against those who publish them. The most blacked out news are precisely those from journalists who suffer intimidation, threats, specious legal actions, who fear for their personal and economic safety for simply having legitimately exercised the right to investigate and publish news and opinions on facts of public interest. The monitoring carried out by the Osservatorio Ossigeno per l’informazione highlights precisely this sad reality unreported by the news media.

THE “COUNTER” of journalists threatened in Italy keeps track of the journalists threatened , according to the findings of Ossigeno. On January 1^st  2006 it started at zero; by January 1^st 2025 it reached 7555. In 2023 Ossigeno documented the cases of 500 journalists threatened. In 2022 it documented 721.

The 2024 monitoring confirms that Italy, based on available data, remains the European country with the most threatened journalists, with the most journalists under police escort or protected by law enforcement with other forms.

See the trend of the “counter” of journalists threatened from 2006 to today

NUMBER OF INCIDENTS – Each incident of intimidation or threat can affect one or more journalists. There were 197 incidents recorded in 2024. Of these 99 were judged to be “highly probable” violations of the right to information. The other 98 incidents were instead verified with the Ossigeno Method and judged to be “proven” violations of the right to information. From this sample of 98 incidents, Ossigeno obtained the percentages of the various methods of intimidation and the other details described below that make it clear which are the most recurring types, who the threats come from, in which areas they occur most frequently and how the various proportions are changing.

TYPES OF INTIMIDATION – Since 2012, warnings and the abuse of intimidating legal actions have been the most frequent threats addressed to journalists (See trend).

In particular, in 2024 journalists were hit above all by warnings (68%), doubled compared to 2023. These are mostly insults, offensive writings, threats on social media. The warnings come from the world of football (25%) and from persons unknown (25%), from politicians or representatives of public institutions (21%), from private citizens (15%) or from criminals (15%).

Whilst there is an increase in warnings, there is a decrease in violent attacks and damage. In second place (22%) among the types of threats are lawsuits promoted instrumentally to prevent public participation, those that internationally are referred to as SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), decreasing compared to the previous two years (they stood at 34% in 2023, 41% in 2022). Half of these (53%) are initiated by representatives of public institutions, especially mayors, councillors and municipal representatives (61%). Among these, defamation lawsuits are the most frequent, followed by  claims for damages.

GENDER THREATS – In Italy, if you are a female journalist, you are a target twice over, as a woman and as a media worker. In 2024, 26% of the total journalists  threatened were female. They were 24% in 2023, 25% in 2022, 27% in 2021. Among female journalists , 35% were victims of gender threats (for example: hate speech, sexist insults, physical attacks). Of these, 80% come from the world of football, up from 40% in 2023. 

Read the in-depth analysis on gender threat

WHO THREATENS? – In 2024 there was an increase in threats from public figures: national or local politicians, especially local administrators such as mayors and municipal councillors who resort to the abuse of defamation lawsuits in order to silence journalists or threaten to file a lawsuit (in 53% of cases – see the details on types of attacks), or offend, discredit and insult journalists. Threats from social media follow, mainly made by private citizens. The unknown origin of the attacks is significant (21%). Mafia or other criminal environments are decreasing (4%). They are followed by origins from the business world (4%) and the media (1%).

LOCATION OF THREATS – The regions with the highest number of threatened journalists are: Lazio (16%) and Veneto (15%), Sicily (11%),   Lombardy (11%) and Liguria (9%). However the  areas where the intimidating pressure is highest – that is, where the percentage of threatened individuals is higher in relation to the number of journalists there – ​​are: Liguria, Veneto and Umbria.

EXAMPLES – The names and stories of those threatened are available online and free in the Threats and Intimidations section of the Ossigeno per l’Informazione Observatory’s website.

In particular, the following cases are highlighted:

Campania: The police protect the reporter Vincenzo Iurillo of ‘Il Fatto Quotidiano’

Faenza: Blogger sued for criticizing the planners of the flooded neighbourhood

Manfredonia: Lucia Piemontese, “I don’t let myself be scared, I keep writing”

Palermo: Body shaming of a female TV presenter

Calabria: The case of the reporter Orofino intercepted with a Trojan spyware

Rome: Three reporters stopped by the police special branch, the Digos

Padua: Reporter held in custody for four hours by the Police

Potenza: The Bishop’s lawsuit for a cartoon on the Elisa Claps murder case is dismissed 

SEE the Data section LINK

READ ALSO:

Part 2/ In Italy it never rains but it pours. Old and new problems

Part 3 / SLAPPs in Italy affected 290 journalists in 2022-2024.

GPA/ASP wt

(Data updated to 31 December 2024)

 – – – REPORT MADE BY THE OSSIGENO MONITORING CENTER —

Director: Alberto Spampinato

Detection of intimidation, verification and publication of data: Laura Turriziani

Data processing by Grazia Pia Attolini

Translation by William Thuburn

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