Zooming in on Italy
By Laura Bucher
The public discourse in Italy is characterised by different polarisations that mirror and exacerbate ongoing social divisions and discrimination in the country.
The COVID-19 pandemic largely contributed to increasing a polarising and hateful language in the public debate. For example, migrants were used as scapegoats, called to not respect the anti-COVID-19 measures, and to be responsible for the spread of the virus. The anti-immigration narrative is not new in Italy: it has been used in political propaganda by populist political parties, politicians, and hyper-partisan newspapers. Some of the Italian political parties intensified the anti-migration sentiment after the Libyan and Syrian refugee crisis that occurred in Italy between 2014 and 2017. Matteo Salvini, the leader of Lega Nord, a nationalist right-wing party, is known for disseminating hateful narratives against migrants. More than any other Italian politician, he built his political propaganda on social media. His Facebook page reaches more than 4 million followers, on which he delivers anti-elite rhetoric focusing on ‘the ostracization of the others’.
“Migrants were used as scapegoats, called to not respect the anti-COVID-19 measures, and to be responsible for the spread of the virus”
Amnesty International Italia published a report in 2021 portraying the hateful narratives trend during the pandemic. Among the tweet’s comments detected, 1 out of 10 was offensive, discriminatory, or hate speech. The posts that produced the highest percentage of hate speech were all published by current right-wing politicians. Hate speech alone increased by 40 % compared to the year before. Among the tweet’s comments that were analysed, anti-religious minority narratives were the highest (55.6 %), followed by anti-gypsy narratives (47.6 %) and anti-migrants narratives (42.1 %). The LGBTQ community was the most targeted group in the hate speech analysis (98.2 %), followed by Muslims (46 %), and NGOs (25.9 %).
“The LGBTQ community was the most targeted group in the hate speech analysis (98.2 %), followed by Muslims (46 %), and NGOs (25.9 %).”
Women represent another targeted group that is subjected to hateful speech in the Italian public debate. A further report from Amnesty International found that 1 out of 3 online comments concerning women and gender rights contain discriminatory or hate speech content. It was also found that online hate speech towards women is 1.5 higher than towards men and 1 out of 3 comments was targeted as sexist. This is in line with a prevention project named ‘Map of Intolerance’, in which 80.000 tweets were analysed and geo-localised in Italy.
The most relevant trend is that online hate speech is radicalised compared to pre-pandemic times, with a higher incidence of negative tweets. The most targeted social categories were women, mostly politicians and journalists (43,70 %), Muslims (19.57 %), people with disabilities (16.43 %), Jews, LGBTQ people (7.09 %), and migrants (19.57 %). Compared to other European countries, legislation concerning hate speech and hate crimes against women, girls and LGBTQ people still lag behind in Italy. Intolerance, prejudice, and violence against LGBTQ people are substantial. In 2019, 32 % of Italian LGTBQ people were subjected to at least one episode of harassment.
“Unfortunately, the Italian Senate recently rejected the so-called ‘Zan Law’ that demanded to extend the protection of people subjected to violence based on their sexual orientation or gender”
Interestingly, only 1 in 6 victims reported physical or sexual assaults to the police, fearing negative judgments from police officers. Unfortunately, the Italian Senate recently rejected the so-called ‘Zan Law’ that demanded to extend the protection of people subjected to violence based on their sexual orientation or gender. This is in line with the views of some conservative Italian politicians, such as the ex-Minister of Family and Disabilities Lorenzo Fontana, who said that same-sex marriage, gender fluidity, and immigration would ‘wipe out our community and our traditions’. The societal polarisation concerning LGTBQ and women's rights can be illustrated in the Word Congress of families held in Verona, a city in northeast Italy, in 2019. The conference has gathered pro-life movements, anti-LGTBQ, anti-feminist and anti-abortion activists whose declared goal was to restore ‘the natural family order’. The European rise of far-right parties and nationalists can be also observed in these conservative ‘pro-family’ initiatives. In contrast, 30.000 activists gathered to fight against the anti-abortion and anti-LGTBQ narratives perpetuated by politicians and radical Catholic figures invited to the Congress.
However, Italy is also distinguished for offering positive developments that strive to counteract online and offline hate narratives. One relevant project, named ‘Contro l’Odio’ (Against Hate) was created to monitor and contrast discrimination and hate speech against immigrants in Italy. Another extensive organisation - named Rete Nazionale Per il Contrasto ai Discorsi e ai Fenomeni D’Odio - gathers several organisations, NGOs, and researchers to study, map, and prevent online and offline hate speech and hate crimes. These projects offer a bright example of how the battle against hate speech can be pursued.