Muthomi Ireri
An Italian court has ruled that journalist Giulia Cortes must pay 5,000 euros in damages to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for mocking her on social media. The court also ordered an additional 1,311 euros for a post where Cortes made fun of Meloni’s height in October 2021. Initially, Cortes shared a manipulated photo of Meloni with a portrait of Benito Mussolini, which Meloni found offensive given her opposition to fascism as leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party. Cortes removed the photo upon request but later insulted Meloni on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), referring to her as a “little woman” and mocking her height, despite Meloni’s actual height being between 1.58 and 1.63 meters according to various reports.
Cortes argued that her posts were not defamatory, but the court held her responsible for her actions online. While Cortes can appeal the sentence, Meloni’s lawyer stated that any damages received would be donated to charity. This case follows a similar incident last year where author Roberto Saviano was fined for insulting Meloni on television over her immigration policies. Italy’s press freedom has faced scrutiny, with Reporters Without Borders recently lowering its ranking to 46th in the World Press Freedom Index, and journalists at state broadcaster RAI going on strike to protest government control over their work.
Silverio Omari
