Italian court orders journalist to pay damages to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
An Italian court has ordered a journalist to pay $5,466 (5,000 euros) in damages to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for mocking her on social media, according to local media reports. In addition, the journalist must pay $1,311 for a post in October 2021 that made fun of the Italian PM’s height.
Social media mockery and legal repercussions
The journalist, identified as Giulia Cortes, initially shared a doctored photo of Meloni with a portrait of late fascist leader Benito Mussolini in the background. Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party was in the opposition at the time, took exception to the pictures posted by Cortes.
Although Cortes removed the picture after receiving a request, she got into further trouble when she insulted Meloni on X (formerly Twitter) by calling her a ‘little woman.’
“You don’t scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you’re only 1.2 meters tall. I can’t even see you,” wrote Cortes at the time.
Meloni’s height is reported to be between 1.58 meters and 1.63 meters, according to various media sources.
Court ruling and possible appeal
Cortese’s defense team argued that the contested messages were not offensive or defamatory in nature and hoped to reduce the financial penalty. However, the single bench of Valerio Natale established the journalist’s responsibility for her actions on social media, leading to the conviction.
Cortese has the option to appeal against the sentence. Meloni’s lawyer stated that the Prime Minister would donate any damages she eventually received to charity.
Previous incidents and press freedom concerns
This is not the first instance of an individual being fined for offending Meloni. Last year, a court in Rome fined best-selling author Roberto Saviano $1,093 plus legal expenses after he insulted her on television in 2021 over her hardline stance on illegal immigration.
In a related development, a new report by Reporters Without Borders downgraded Italy five places to 46th in its World Press Freedom Index. In May, journalists at state broadcaster RAI went on strike to protest against the “suffocating control” over their work by Meloni’s government.
