Journalists and editors across Italy have gone on strike today to protest against “gag law” legislation being pushed through the parliament by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The 24-hour strike on Friday – organised by the National Federation of the Italian Press (FNSI) – affects the vast majority of the country’s major newspapers and news services on television, radio and the internet. Journalists at daily newspapers did not go to work on Thursday, meaning that no editions were printed today.
As previously reported in TSR, the legislation proposes heavy restrictions on the ability of law enforcement agencies to obtain wiretap orders and threatens to prosecute media outlets that publish wiretap transcripts. The government says that the bill is aimed at preventing voyeurism and protecting privacy.
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