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Euronews
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Why women politicians face more online hate
Giulia Fossati entered Italian politics around 2021, turning regularly to social media to share her views on topics like migration, racism, and feminism. But her online presence came at a cost. 'There is great violence on social media,' said Fossati, a member of the centre-left Partito Democratico who represents women who are registered party members in Pavia, near Milan. 'I get many comments, especially when I talk about feminist topics,' she told Euronews Next, citing examples like 'go to the kitchen,' or 'idiot shut up'. Fossati is not yet a household name in Italian politics, yet she is already facing online harassment, with insults often combining digs at her gender and age. 'They call me a 'young woman' in a way that makes me sound less credible, less defensible than an adult,' she said. Fossati's experience is not an exception. Women politicians are more likely than their male counterparts to face identity-based attacks on social media, according to a new peer-reviewed study published in the journal Politics and Gender. Researchers analysed more than 23 million posts on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that were addressed to politicians in Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. At the time, the platform still had active content moderation. While men and women face a similar number of online attacks, male politicians tend to be targeted with general insults and female politicians are more often attacked for their appearance, gender, ethnicity, or personal morality, the study found. In Europe, fame has little to do with the attacks. Female politicians face uncivil tweets regardless of how well-known they are, and they are more exposed to such attacks than their male counterparts, the researchers found. The study defined 'uncivil' tweets as those containing hate speech, gender stereotypes, exclusionary language (like 'women should stay at home rather than do politics'), threats to individual rights, name-calling, character attacks ('liar,' 'traitor'), vulgarity, sarcasm, all-caps shouting, or content that is incendiary or humiliating. These online attacks, researchers warned, can lead women to reduce their presence online and deter them from running for political office. The deep-rooted causes of online hate towards women The study has some limitations. Andrea Pető, a professor in the department of gender studies at the Central European University in Vienna, criticised the study's use of AI, saying that while these models can flag explicit threats, they struggle to detect more subtle forms of verbal aggression. 'Artificial intelligence cannot catch the nuances,' Pető told Euronews Next. Likewise, by flagging comments as 'uncivil,' some context may be missed, for example, the fact that many 'democratic voters hold these supposedly 'uncivil' viewpoints,' she said. Even so, the study's overall conclusions came as no surprise to gender and politics experts. Online harassment of women has long been under scrutiny, prompting research, debate, and legal reform. Power, politics, and public debate have not historically been associated with female roles or traditions. Consider women's right to vote. In some European countries, such as Greece, universal suffrage for national elections was established only in 1952. The legacy of this gender inequality is evident even today. When women enter political spaces, including on social media, they may encounter hostility and attacks because they are women, Pető said. 'Women are expected to be in the private sphere and those questioning this divide, let they be witches, or Marie Curie or local politicians, or an MP, face a certain kind of disciplining action from the public sphere, run by men,' she said. But is this online hostility driven by deep-rooted societal attitudes, by the technological systems that amplify them, or both? Technological and economic issues 'Technology often works as a mirror,' said Sandra Wachter, professor of technology and regulation at the University of Oxford and at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany. 'Those who already experience oppression and discrimination in society face it on a larger scale if we implement technology in a completely unfettered way. And this is why law is important,' she told Euronews Next. Wachter noted that, beyond social and historical causes, online attacks against women are also driven by the economic interests of major tech companies. She said their business models are designed to keep users online as long as possible to sell advertisements. 'What people want to see and what keeps them engaged is something that is raging, outrageous,' Wachter said. That's a key reason why fake news, often characterised with a sensational tone, tends to diffuse farther and faster than legitimate information. Even so, many people are unaware of the problem, Wachter said. Victims of online attacks are often blamed, while perpetrators – and even law enforcement – frequently fail to grasp how serious the consequences can be, partly due to the digital setting, she said. How to fix the problem Some platforms, such as TikTok, use AI-driven content moderation, while others, such as Meta's Facebook and Instagram, have scaled back content reviews. But AI cannot catch everything, warned Sara de Vuyst, a professor in contemporary visual culture at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. 'This [the use of AI] has some issues; they're missing things when the comments are formulated in a more sarcastic way, nuances get lost,' de Vuyst told Euronews Next. Both de Vuyst and Wachter agree that regulations like the European Union's Digital Service Act (DSA) are a step in the right direction. Entered into force in February 2024, the DSA aims to protect consumers' rights online. It makes it easier for users to flag if an online post is problematic, and requires big social media companies to implement risk-reduction protocols. Yet both de Vuyst and Wachter argue that under the DSA, corporate accountability of these companies remains low. 'Those are all great, fantastic steps in the right direction,' Wachter said. 'But the thing that nobody has yet done is ask the question: 'what about the business model?'' Back in Italy, Fossati has taken matters into her own hands. At first, she spent time engaging in discussions with her online haters, trying to understand their perspectives. However, she adopted a different approach after realising that many commenters were not open to genuine debate. 'If someone insults me, my answer is always a very ironic one,' she said. If a comment is particularly offensive, she reminds the user that she could press charges, yet she has never done so because it would be an expensive and cumbersome process. Despite the attacks, Fossati keeps up her motivation and chooses to focus on the bright side. 'There are often negative comments because we don't write about how good people are,' she said. Online haters 'don't represent the whole reality'.
Japan Times
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Italy holds referendum on citizenship and workers' rights
Italians began two days of voting Sunday in a referendum on easing citizenship rules and strengthening labor laws, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government opposed to both and urging people to abstain. The five proposals on the ballot were not expected to pass, in light of low turnout and the requirement that over 50% of voters participate to validate the referendum. Currently, a non-EU adult resident without marriage or blood ties to Italy must live in the country for 10 years before they can apply for citizenship — a process which can then take years more. The referendum proposal, triggered by a grassroots campaign led by NGOs, would cut this to five years, putting Italy in line with Germany and France. Campaigners say around 2.5 million people could benefit from the reform, which is being backed by the center-left Democratic Party. Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party has prioritized cutting irregular immigration even as her government has increased the number of migrant work visas, is strongly against it. She said on Thursday that the current system "is an excellent law, among the most open, in the sense that we have for years been among the European nations that grant the highest number of citizenships each year." Low initial turnout More than 213,500 people acquired Italian citizenship in 2023, double the number from 2020 and accounting for one-fifth of the total number of naturalizations in EU countries, according to the bloc's statistics. More than 90% were from outside the bloc, mostly from Albania and Morocco, as well as Argentina and Brazil — two countries with large Italian immigrant communities. Ministers agreed in March to restrict the rights to citizenship of those claiming blood ties to Italy from four to two generations. Meloni and her coalition partners encouraged voters to boycott the referendum, which would invalidate it if it fails to clear the 50%-of-eligible-voters turnout threshold. As of 7 p.m. Sunday, national participation was at 15.8%, according to the interior ministry. Voting was to continue through to Monday afternoon. Casting a ballot for the first time in his life at a Rome polling station was Giovanni Puccini, 18, who called Meloni's instruction to abstain "disrespectful" of past sacrifices by Italians. "You have to vote because in the past so many people fought, even died, for this right," he said. His friend Pierre Donadio, 21, said less stringent citizenship laws were needed in the country, to boost diversity and prevent it "being too closed up in itself." Even if it passed, the reform would not affect a migration law many consider unfair: that children born in Italy to foreign parents cannot request nationality until they reach 18. Prominent rapper Ghali, who was born in Milan to Tunisian parents, has been outspoken in advocating a change to the law for children. He urged fans to back Sunday's vote as a step in the right direction. "With a 'Yes' we ask that five years of life here are enough, not 10, to be part of this country," he wrote on Instagram. Interests of workers The ballot includes one question on citizenship. The four others are on increasing protections for workers who are dismissed, in precarious situations or involved in workplace accidents. Those changes were being pushed by the left-wing CGIL trade union. "We want to reverse a culture that has prioritized the interests of business over those of workers," said CGIL general secretary Maurizio Landini. The center-left Democratic Party is also backing the proposals — even though it introduced some of the laws while in office in the past. The proposals took aim at measures in a so-called Jobs Act, passed a decade ago by the government of the Democratic Party prime minister, Matteo Renzi, in order to liberalize the labor market. Supporters say the act boosted employment but detractors say it made work more precarious. Under new leadership, the Democratic Party — which is polling behind Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy — is seeking to woo working-class voters by backing the referendum reform.
CTV News
08-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Italy holds referendum on citizenship, workers' rights
A woman casts her ballot in a box for referendums on citizenship and job protections, at a polling station in Milan, Italy, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP) ROME, Italy — Italians began two days of voting Sunday in a referendum on easing citizenship rules and strengthening labour laws, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government opposed to both and urging people to abstain. The five proposals on the ballot were not expected to pass, in light of low turnout and the requirement that over 50 percent of voters participate to validate the referendum. Currently, a non-EU adult resident without marriage or blood ties to Italy must live in the country for 10 years before they can apply for citizenship -- a process which can then take years more. The referendum proposal, triggered by a grassroots campaign led by NGOs, would cut this to five years, putting Italy in line with Germany and France. Campaigners say around 2.5 million people could benefit from the reform, which is being backed by the centre-left Democratic Party. Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party has prioritised cutting irregular immigration even as her government has increased the number of migrant work visas, is strongly against it. She said on Thursday that the current system 'is an excellent law, among the most open, in the sense that we have for years been among the European nations that grant the highest number of citizenships each year'. Low initial turnout More than 213,500 people acquired Italian citizenship in 2023, double the number from 2020 and accounting for one-fifth of the total number of naturalisations in EU countries, according to the bloc's statistics. More than 90 percent were from outside the bloc, mostly from Albania and Morocco, as well as Argentina and Brazil -- two countries with large Italian immigrant communities. Ministers agreed in March to restrict the rights to citizenship of those claiming blood ties to Italy from four to two generations. Meloni and her coalition partners encouraged voters to boycott the referendum, which would invalidate it if it fails to clear the 50-percent-of-eligible-voters turnout. As of 7:00 pm (1700 GMT) Sunday, national participation was at 15.8 percent, according to the interior ministry. Voting was to continue through to Monday afternoon. Casting a ballot for the first time in his life at a Rome polling station was Giovanni Puccini, 18, who called Meloni's instruction to abstain 'disrespectful' of past sacrifices by Italians. 'You have to vote because in the past so many people fought, even died, for this right,' he said. His friend Pierre Donadio, 21, said less stringent citizenship laws were needed in the country, to boost diversity and prevent it 'being too closed up in itself'. Even if it passed, the reform would not affect a migration law many consider unfair: that children born in Italy to foreign parents cannot request nationality until they reach 18. Prominent rapper Ghali, who was born in Milan to Tunisian parents, has been outspoken in advocating a change to the law for children. He urged fans to back Sunday's vote as a step in the right direction. 'With a 'Yes' we ask that five years of life here are enough, not 10, to be part of this country,' he wrote on Instagram. Interests of workers The ballot includes one question on citizenship. The four others are on increasing protections for workers who are dismissed, in precarious situations or involved in workplace accidents. Those changes were being pushed by the left-wing CGIL trade union. 'We want to reverse a culture that has prioritised the interests of business over those of workers,' CGIL general secretary Maurizio Landini told AFP. The centre-left Democratic Party is also backing the proposals -- even though it introduced some of the laws while in office in the past. The proposals took aim at measures in a so-called Jobs Act, passed a decade ago by the government of the Democratic Party prime minister, Matteo Renzi, in order to liberalise the labour market. Supporters say the act boosted employment but detractors say it made work more precarious. Under new leadership, the Democratic Party -- which is polling behind Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy -- is seeking to woo working-class voters by backing the referendum reform.
The Independent
05-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Italy's Meloni greenlights controversial laws targeting protests, squatters and cannabis
Italy 's Senate has approved a controversial security decree targeting public protests, pickpockets, squatters, and "legal" cannabis. The decree, championed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni 's right-wing coalition, has faced criticism from opposition parties and civil rights advocates, who argue it is overly repressive. The Senate passed the measure with a vote of 109-69, with one abstention. The session was temporarily suspended due to protests by opposition lawmakers, who chanted "shame, shame" on the chamber floor. "We challenge a government that wants to imprison children, students who strike and protesters outside factories," Francesco Boccia, the lead senator for the centre-left Democratic Party, told reporters. The decree criminalises the blocking of roads and the defacing of public property, thus targeting anti-climate change protesters who in Italy have often disrupted traffic or thrown paint at monuments. It introduces new crimes against revolts in prison and migrant detention centres, punishing even acts of passive resistance, and against people who occupy private property, such as social housing. It bans the trade of "cannabis light", or hemp, which unlike marijuana has no mind-altering qualities, infuriating local entrepreneurs who say the move will cost thousands of jobs and imperil millions of euros of investments. The bill scraps an exemption from prison detention for convicted pregnant women or those with babies, as backers say the rule was exploited by female members of the Roma ethnic minority to escape punishment for serial pickpocketing. "It's useless to say that this decree is inhumane, because women who have children in order to steal are not worthy of having them," said Gianni Berrino, a senator from Meloni's Brothers of Italy party. The decree also introduces tougher sanctions for protesters who clash with police, causing them injuries, and offers legal cover of up to 10,000 euros ($11,385) for army or police officers who are put under investigation or sent to trial. Meloni's coalition won elections decisively in September 2022 and is still riding high in polls after promising to get tough on law and order. It has introduced dozens of new crimes, often reacting to public outrage about specific issues, but critics say this is not necessarily effective and aggravates already serious prison overcrowding. "We want a state where citizens live peacefully and whoever breaks (things) pays, whoever makes a mistake pays, and it is right that they pay with prison," Berrino said during the Senate debate.
The Independent
04-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
Protests that block traffic to be banned in Italy
Italy 's upper house of parliament has approved a wide-ranging security decree targeting public protests and "legal" cannabis, sparking outrage from opposition groups and civil rights campaigners. The decree, championed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni 's right-wing coalition government, passed the Senate with a 109-69 vote, with one abstention. The session was temporarily suspended due to protests from opposition lawmakers, who chanted "shame, shame" on the chamber floor. Francesco Boccia, a leading senator for the centre-left Democratic Party, criticised the decree, stating, "We challenge a government that wants to imprison children, students who strike, and protesters outside factories." The approved measures criminalise blocking roads and defacing public property, a move seen as targeting anti-climate change activists who have disrupted traffic and vandalised monuments in Italy. It introduces new crimes against revolts in prison and migrant detention centres, punishing even acts of passive resistance, and against people who occupy private property, such as social housing. It bans the trade of "cannabis light", or hemp, which unlike marijuana has no mind-altering qualities, infuriating local entrepreneurs who say the move will cost thousands of jobs and imperil millions of euros of investments. The bill scraps an exemption from prison detention for convicted pregnant women or those with babies, as backers say the rule was exploited by female members of the Roma ethnic minority to escape punishment for serial pickpocketing. "It's useless to say that this decree is inhumane, because women who have children in order to steal are not worthy of having them," said Gianni Berrino, a senator from Meloni's Brothers of Italy party. The decree also introduces tougher sanctions for protesters who clash with police, causing them injuries, and offers legal cover of up to 10,000 euros ($11,385) for army or police officers who are put under investigation or sent to trial. Meloni's coalition won elections decisively in September 2022 and is still riding high in polls after promising to get tough on law and order. It has introduced dozens of new crimes, often reacting to public outrage about specific issues, but critics say this is not necessarily effective and aggravates already serious prison overcrowding. "We want a state where citizens live peacefully and whoever breaks (things) pays, whoever makes a mistake pays, and it is right that they pay with prison," Berrino said during the Senate debate.
