The Guardian reports that a proposed piece of legislation up for debate in the Italian senate would mean:

“No more reporting of criminal investigations before they come to trial (even if that takes years). No more recording or photographing of anyone, even a Mafia boss, unless that person approves. Only members of the state-approved “National Order of Journalists” allowed to film or record. Fines approaching half-a-million euros for publishers who transgress, with €20,000 per reporter also on the table.”

Such extreme limitations on press freedom could undermine the very functioning of democracy in Italy, and may violate basic principles of democratic personal freedom and freedom of information that underpin the European Union and the obligations of its member states to afford and protect basic human rights.

Help inform the debate with specifics about Italian media law, European Union legislation on informational freedom, and the underlying motivations for this proposed radical expansion of the Italian government’s censorship powers…

I would rephrase Denver’s account, and say it like this: “Such extreme limitations on press freedom [are the effective suspension of functioning] democracy in Italy”. There is no reason for such laws except to help public officials cover up criminal ties and bad behavior, or to justify the courts’ inability to behave responsibly in an environment of open information flows.

Severe curbs on reporters’ freedom to report not only expose those reporters to retribution for nothing more than doing their job and assisting in the public flow of reliable information, they threaten the freedom of individuals to know about their world and make informed decisions about who should govern their communities and their future.