In the contemporary digital space, falsehood is no longer an anomaly: it is a technique of influence, an economic factor, and an instrument of power. Fake news, manipulated reviews, synthetic content, and deepfakes act in an increasingly pervasive way on the formation of public opinion, on consumer choices, and on the very reliability of the information ecosystem. Online falsehood does not merely distort the truth, but constructs credible alternative realities, capable of shaping consensus, reputation, and the market. In this scenario, artificial intelligence amplifies the quantity, speed, and sophistication of manipulation, making the boundary between authenticity and artifice more subtle. What is at stake concerns not only the correctness of information or commercial fairness, but also the resilience of essential values such as transparency, trust, and freedom of choice. Countering these phenomena therefore means committing to the creation of legal, technological, and cultural forms of protection: defending truth as a public good in an environment in which deception can now be produced, disseminated, and monetized on an industrial scale.
Digital disinformation has assumed an unprecedented quantitative and qualitative dimension. Statistical data in fact highlight converging trends: the growing sophistication of fake news, the increase in content manipulated through artificial intelligence tools, the difficulty for users in distinguishing between authentic and synthetic content, and the high exposure of younger segments of the population to digital information flows.
According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s Digital News Report 2025, 58% of respondents globally believe that distinguishing between true and false information online has become increasingly difficult. In the same report, overall trust in the media averages around 32%, with strong differences between countries, while concern about the spread of online disinformation remains high in most of the areas analyzed, exceeding 50% in several European contexts and in the United States[1].
Similar evidence emerges from an international survey conducted in 2023 by UNESCO in collaboration with Ipsos, which shows that a large majority of Internet users globally declare that they have come into contact with fake news on social networks, with perceived impacts particularly in the fields of political and health information. The study finds that over 85% of respondents fear the political impact of disinformation, while 53% identify artificial intelligence as a factor amplifying the phenomenon. A significant share of users also acknowledge having difficulty distinguishing authentic content from manipulated content, especially when this is generated through artificial intelligence techniques [2].
In the European context, several studies indicate an increase in perceived exposure to disinformation, with some countries being particularly vulnerable to information manipulation campaigns. Among these, Italy is also frequently mentioned, where the spread of disinformation content appears particularly high compared to the European average [3].
According to a 2025 European Union Report, 82% of the European sample (86% of the Italian sample) believe they have been exposed to disinformation and fake news often or at least sometimes in the previous seven days. And although just over six respondents out of ten feel confident that they can recognize disinformation when they encounter it (61%), around three respondents out of ten do not trust their own ability to recognize disinformation [4].
Among younger generations, the phenomenon is even more significant. Studies on digital literacy and news consumption habits among young people show that social networks and online platforms are increasingly the main access channel to information, but also the place where young users are most exposed to non-verified, decontextualized, or deliberately manipulative content. [5]
In the Italian context, recent reports by Censis and other research centers confirm a widespread perception of the seriousness of the problem, but also a persistent underestimation of its effects by part of the population. If on the one hand many citizens declare themselves concerned about the spread of fake news, on the other hand a significant share still considers disinformation a secondary phenomenon or believes itself able to recognize it easily, despite empirical evidence suggesting otherwise [6].
To this must be added the increasingly visible role of artificial intelligence in accelerating the production of manipulative content. Recent analyses show a significant increase in information sites generated wholly or largely through automated systems, as well as a growing use of synthetic images and videos in the digital environment [7].
At the global level, numerous analyses highlight a significant increase in disinformation produced through generative artificial intelligence tools: the use of automatic language and image generation models has reduced the production costs of manipulated content, making possible the large-scale creation of false but highly plausible articles, images, and videos [8].
Data reported by Agência Brasil in 2026 indicate, for example, that in the Brazilian context disinformation content generated through artificial intelligence more than tripled between 2024 and 2025 [9]. Further analyses have been conducted by independent organizations such as NewsGuard, which has documented the proliferation of hundreds of websites automatically generated through artificial intelligence tools and designed to graphically imitate reliable news outlets. Such sites publish automatically or semi-automatically generated content, contributing to amplifying the spread of manipulated or unverified information in the digital space [10].
At the same time, a growing number of economic studies highlight the relevance of the phenomenon in the context of the digital market and the online reputation of businesses. Empirical analyses show that even minimal variations in the ratings of review platforms can produce economically significant effects on business revenues, confirming the role of digital reputation as a strategic asset in the platform economy. [11].
According to some international estimates, between 10% and 30% of online reviews may be manipulated or inauthentic, with significant effects on consumer behavior. Some also indicate that an artificial increase in the rating of a product or service can generate revenue increases of up to 15–20%, highlighting how reputational manipulation may alter not only the flow of information, but also the competitive balance of the market. [12].
These dynamics are further amplified by the growing spread of automation and content generation tools through artificial intelligence in the digital marketing sector; an exponential growth has been recorded in automated systems for generating reviews and comments, often used to simulate consensus or to artificially alter the appeal of products and services [13].
The qualitative leap of the phenomenon emerges with particular clarity in its growing geopolitical dimension: in recent years, in fact, numerous investigations have documented the existence of coordinated disinformation operations aimed at influencing electoral processes and political debates in various countries. Among these, the so-called “Operation Doppelgänger” has been widely analyzed, attributed to pro-Russian propaganda networks and based on the graphic replication of European information websites, on the coordinated dissemination of manipulated content relating to the conflict in Ukraine and to electoral consultations in different countries of the European Union [14].
The Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) has stressed how fake news, generative artificial intelligence, and foreign interference now constitute forms of hybrid threat to liberal democracies, capable of affecting simultaneously informational security, public debate, and institutional stability [15].
n this context, recent episodes — such as the disinformation campaigns identified between 2024 and 2025 in Moldova on the occasion of major electoral consultations — show how information manipulation can be used as an instrument of geopolitical pressure and strategic influence [16]. According to the IDMO (European Digital Media Observatory) and the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, the use of generative artificial intelligence is further expanding the capacity for producing and disseminating propagandistic and manipulated content, making influence operations increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect [17].
In the initial phase of Internet development, disinformation was generally interpreted as an episodic distortion of the information flow, attributable to individual actors or to specific propaganda campaigns. However, the evolution of digital platforms and of economic models based on attention has progressively transformed this phenomenon into a structural component of the contemporary communicative ecosystem.
Today disinformation no longer constitutes a marginal anomaly of the information system, but rather a systemic dynamic closely connected to the functioning of digital infrastructures. The architecture of online platforms is in fact based on recommendation algorithms, user profiling systems, and economic models oriented toward maximizing engagement. In this context, content that arouses intense emotional reactions — indignation, fear, conflict — tends to be more strongly amplified by mechanisms of algorithmic distribution, favoring the spread of polarizing or manipulative narratives [18].
To this dynamic is added the growing impact of generative artificial intelligence, which has further reduced the costs of producing and distributing content. Automatic generation systems now make it possible to produce on a large scale plausible texts, images, and audiovisual products, often difficult to distinguish from authentic ones. Disinformation thus becomes replicable, adaptable, and customizable, since it can be modeled according to the recipient and disseminated through highly targeted campaigns [19].
The result is a qualitative mutation of the information ecosystem in which information asymmetry no longer concerns only individual relations between sender and recipient, but tends to affect the entire digital public space, changing the conditions under which opinions, economic decisions, and political choices are formed. Thus, the phenomenon contributes to the erosion of trust in institutions and in authoritative sources of information and can deeply affect the quality of public debate and the stability of democratic systems.
From this dual impact there progressively emerges a composite legal interest, which may be identified in the integrity of the information ecosystem. Protection cannot be entrusted exclusively to the traditional instruments of information law or competition law. Rather, it requires a multi-level regulatory approach, capable of integrating normative interventions, responsibilities of digital platforms, instruments of algorithmic transparency, and policies of “digital literacy.” In this context, the regulation of the information ecosystem appears destined to become one of the main fields of development of digital economy law and of the governance of online platforms.
The most recent developments, in this field and beyond, are closely connected to the development of generative artificial intelligence systems, capable of producing increasingly realistic textual, visual, and audiovisual content.
Generative models based on deep learning techniques, such as large language models and audiovisual synthesis systems, now allow the automated production of articles, images, voice recordings, and manipulated videos with such a degree of verisimilitude as to make the distinction between authentic content and artificially generated content extremely complex. In this context lies the phenomenon of so-called “deepfakes,” namely synthetic audiovisual content created through artificial intelligence techniques that make it possible to alter or recreate a person’s image and voice in an extremely realistic way [20].
The spread of these technologies introduces a new dimension: whereas in previous phases informational manipulation was based mainly on the selection and reinterpretation of real content, generative artificial intelligence now allows the creation of completely artificial informational events, making possible the large-scale production of plausible but entirely fictitious narratives. Recent studies highlight how such tools can also be employed within actual information manipulation campaigns, further amplifying the capacity for disinformation to spread in the digital environment [21].
In particular, the possibility of using AI to introduce into the network, in a massive manner, realistic images capable of imprinting themselves in users’ memory and becoming viral, may give rise to the so-called “Mandela effect”: a false collective memory in which different people remember the same incorrect details concerning events, images, or statements. An example of this effect, in relation to artificial intelligence, is the fake photo of Pope Francis wearing an enormous white Balenciaga coat, which became viral and entered the (false) collective imagination [57]. An effect that stems from the empirical and neuropsychological observation that memory (including autobiographical memory, made up of semantic and episodic recollections) retains traces of what was perceived and of emotional experience and progressively forgets the origin and source: the psychological truth prevailing over objective truth. A dynamic dramatically amplified by artificial intelligence and by the compulsive bulimia for digital content fueled by algorithms.
Faced with such risks, the European legislator has begun to introduce specific legal obligations aimed at ensuring greater transparency of artificially generated content. The European Artificial Intelligence Regulation (AI Act) provides, for example, that AI systems capable of generating synthetic content must adopt suitable measures to make such content clearly identifiable as artificial. In particular, providers of generative AI systems are required to inform users when they interact with content produced or manipulated by means of artificial intelligence [22].
These regulatory interventions reflect growing awareness: in the era of generative artificial intelligence, protecting the information ecosystem requires not only instruments to combat traditional disinformation, but also mechanisms capable of guaranteeing the traceability and recognizability of synthetic content. The challenge for contemporary law therefore lies in developing forms of regulation that make it possible to enhance the innovative potential of artificial intelligence without compromising the reliability of the information environment.
In the contemporary scientific and institutional debate, the phenomenon of fake news is increasingly analyzed through a conceptual distinction between misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. Categories which, although sharing the element of untruthfulness or manipulation of information, differ in structure, purpose, and degree of intentionality.
Misinformation consists in the dissemination of false or inaccurate information circulating in the public space without a specific manipulative intent. In such cases, the falsity of the content often derives from interpretative errors, misunderstandings, or the unconscious reproduction of unverified news. The subjective element that characterizes misinformation is therefore the absence of intent: those who disseminate the content do not act with the aim of deliberately altering the informational process, but nonetheless contribute to the circulation of inaccurate or misleading content within the digital ecosystem [23].
Different is the case of disinformation, which arises when false information is disseminated knowingly and deliberately, with the objective of influencing perceptions, opinions, or collective behaviors. The qualifying element of disinformation may be identified in the intentional will to alter the perception of reality through manipulation of the information flow. In this sense, disinformation represents not merely a pathological deviation of the communicative process, but a true strategy of influence, capable of affecting the functioning of markets, public debate, and, in the most extreme cases, democratic processes [24].
Alongside these phenomena lies digital propaganda, which may be defined as the systematic and organized use of disinformation for political, ideological, or strategic purposes. Unlike episodic forms of informational manipulation, propaganda is characterized by the presence of organized structures, coordinated campaigns, and techniques of artificial amplification of content, often carried out through networks of automated accounts, coordinated influencers, or micro-targeting strategies. In the context of digital platforms, such dynamics take on particular relevance because the algorithmic architecture of recommendation systems tends to privilege content with a high capacity to generate engagement, that is, intense emotional interactions, polarization, and conflict [25].
A field in which such dynamics emerge with particular clarity is that of armed conflicts and hybrid wars, where fake news do not consist merely in the episodic dissemination of false content, but are inserted into broader strategies of influence and narrative manipulation. One may think, for example, of the already mentioned pro-Russian campaigns linked to operation “Doppelgänger,” based on the graphic cloning of European journalistic outlets and on the dissemination of content constructed to alter the perception of the conflict in Ukraine and to steer public debate in Union countries. Or one may look, in the context of the war between Israel and Hamas, at the circulation, especially in the days immediately following 7 October 2023, of stock images and videos taken from other theaters of war or from previous events, relaunched as though they documented in real time bombardments, attacks, or atrocities of the ongoing conflict, with the effect of maximizing the emotional impact of the news and steering public reaction in a polarized direction. Likewise, the delegitimization campaigns directed against humanitarian actors, as in the case of UNRWA, which denounced the systematic dissemination of false and manipulated information used as an instrument of war to discredit its work and indirectly hinder its humanitarian action [26].
An equally delicate field concerns disinformation campaigns directed against judges, magistrates, and judicial institutions. In various European contexts, the strategic dissemination of false or manipulated narratives has been used as an instrument of delegitimization of the judiciary, with the objective of undermining public trust in the impartiality of judicial bodies and, more generally, in the rule of law [27]. These phenomena are particularly relevant because they act on one of the essential presuppositions of constitutional democracies: citizens’ confidence in the independence and neutrality of those called upon to apply the law. In this perspective, media and digital smear campaigns may constitute an indirect pressure mechanism on the judiciary, capable of producing systemic effects not unlike those arising from more traditional forms of intimidation [28]. On a comparative level, the phenomenon has taken on particularly evident forms both in Eastern Europe — where there has been no shortage of organized smear campaigns against judges perceived as hostile to political power — and in the United States, where Chief Justice Roberts has expressly included disinformation and intimidation among the main contemporary threats to judicial independence [29]. As regards the judicial police, the qualitative leap brought about by deepfakes now makes it possible to fabricate synthetic audio and video suitable not only for fraud or impersonation, but also for discrediting investigators, casting doubt on the genuineness of investigative activities, or contaminating the informational context in which digital evidence is perceived and assessed, so much so that Europol considers the capacity to prevent and detect such content a strategic priority for law enforcement agencies [30].
Moreover, the algorithms that regulate the visibility of content on the main social platforms operate on the basis of attention-optimization and user-retention logics. As mentioned above, this economic model, founded on the so-called “attention economy” [31], tends inevitably to favor the dissemination of sensationalistic, emotionally polarizing, or controversial content, which is statistically more capable of generating shares, comments, and reactions [32].
A further manifestation of these dynamics can be observed when disinformation is grafted onto electoral competitions already exposed to criminal, clientelistic, or corrupt conditioning: in these contexts, fake news cease to be mere false content and become an instrument through which territorial control, opaque intermediation, and exchange of utilities are transferred onto the symbolic and reputational plane, altering the perception of candidates, delegitimizing opponents, and progressively restricting the space for public debate [33]. In this perspective, delegitimizing campaigns and support campaigns no longer appear as distinct phenomena, but as two sides of the same strategy of influence: the former aim to isolate candidates, administrators, journalists, or guarantee institutions through unfounded accusations, insinuations, or narratives of fraud; the latter construct around certain candidates an artificial consensus, simulating social rootedness, reliability, and the inevitability of the electoral outcome [34]. In the Italian context, the phenomenon emerges above all as a structural vulnerability of the local information environment: AGCOM has described disinformation as a measurable phenomenon of the national information system. In 2024 the Ministry of the Interior recorded 630 acts of intimidation against local administrators, an increase of 13.9 percent compared with the previous year, and the literature on the relationship between the mafia and electoral competition has shown, on the one hand, the electoral support assured in some contexts by mafia organizations and, on the other, the increase in violence against political figures close to the vote [35].
Outside the national context, Operation “Teatro Invisível” in Brazil concerned a criminal organization dedicated to disseminating false news about mayoral candidates in more than ten municipalities in the State of Rio de Janeiro, while the subsequent “Teatro Invisível II” linked that disinformation circuit to hypotheses of money laundering, procurement fraud, and destruction of digital evidence; in Moldova, several investigations brought to light large illicit Russian financing aimed at electoral manipulation, also through the strategic use and organized dissemination of fake news on Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram.
The overall result of this dynamic is a crisis of epistemic authority in the contemporary information ecosystem. This results in a growing difficulty for citizens and consumers in distinguishing reliable information from manipulated content, with relevant effects not only on the cultural and social level, but also on the legal and economic one [36].
A particularly significant phenomenon of disinformation in the digital economy is represented by false online reviews, which constitute a specific form of informational manipulation capable of directly affecting the mechanisms by which the market functions.
In the context of digital platforms, user reviews have assumed an increasingly relevant function in the construction of the commercial reputation of businesses, products, and services. They now represent one of the main tools through which consumers orient their economic choices, performing an informative function which, in fact, integrates or replaces traditional forms of advertising and commercial communication. According to numerous studies, a very high share of consumers systematically consults online reviews before making purchases or choosing services, attributing to such content a high degree of reliability [37].
It is precisely the economic centrality of digital reputation that has favored the spread of manipulative practices aimed at artificially altering public perception of products and services. Among the most widespread techniques are the publication of artificial positive reviews, aimed at improving a company’s reputation, and the dissemination of coordinated negative reviews, directed at damaging competitors. These phenomena fall within “astroturfing” strategies, that is, the artificial creation of apparent consensus through content presented as spontaneous but in reality orchestrated by interested parties [38].
Alongside astroturfing, the practice of so-called “review bombing” has also spread, consisting in the massive publication of coordinated negative reviews, often motivated not by actual consumer experiences but by organized campaigns with reputational, ideological, or commercial purposes. Such dynamics may significantly affect the visibility of products on digital platforms and, consequently, consumer choices [39].
The problem of false reviews assumes relevance not only on an ethical or informational level, but also on a legal and economic one, since it affects various interests protected by the legal system. First of all, manipulation of reviews alters the proper functioning of the digital market, producing distortive effects on competition among economic operators. Secondly, it compromises consumers’ right to receive truthful and transparent information, an essential element for the exercise of informed purchasing choices.
Precisely for these reasons, European law has progressively recognized the legal relevance of online reviews within the discipline of unfair commercial practices. Directive (EU) 2019/2161 — known as the Omnibus Directive — introduced specific transparency obligations for digital platforms, requiring traders who publish reviews to indicate whether and how it has been verified that such reviews come from consumers who have actually purchased or used the reviewed product or service [40].
In parallel, the Digital Services Act has imposed stricter obligations on online platforms regarding algorithmic transparency, management of illegal content, and responsibility in content moderation. Although the regulation does not specifically govern false reviews, it introduces legal instruments intended also to affect such phenomena indirectly, in particular through obligations of systemic risk management and greater accountability of digital platforms [41].
In the Italian legal system, any legal intervention regarding disinformation must necessarily confront the fundamental principle laid down in Article 21 of the Constitution, which recognizes everyone’s right to freely express their thoughts through speech, writing, and every other means of dissemination.
However, this freedom is not absolute in character, but encounters limits deriving from the need to protect other constitutional values of equal relevance, including the dignity of the person, individual reputation, and public order.
The exercise of freedom of information must nevertheless respect certain fundamental criteria, including the truthfulness of the facts reported, the relevance of the information, and expressive restraint. The balancing between freedom of expression and protection of reputation therefore represents one of the central junctions of information law.
In Italy, the legislation aimed at governing the fight against disinformation phenomena in the broad sense is not organic and unified. Protection is articulated rather through a plurality of legal instruments belonging to different sectors of the legal system, which operate on complementary levels.
On the one hand, the protections of the Consumer Code (Legislative Decree no. 206/2005) are certainly relevant, as regards misleading commercial practices under Articles 20 and following [42] , as is the legislation on unfair competition provided for by Article 2598 of the Civil Code, or civil liability for reputational damage. On the other hand, our legal system also provides for various hypotheses of potential criminal relevance of disinformation conduct.
One of the most frequent hypotheses is aggravated defamation by means of publicity, provided for by Article 595, paragraph 3, of the Criminal Code. This offense occurs when defamatory content is disseminated through means suitable for reaching an indeterminate number of persons, a category in which case law has also included digital platforms and social networks [43].
Where false news is capable of disturbing public order or generating alarm in the community, the offense of causing alarm to the authorities, provided for by Article 658 of the Criminal Code, may also arise. This provision has sometimes been invoked in relation to the dissemination of false information concerning health emergencies, catastrophic events, or situations of danger to public safety.
Disinformation may also assume criminal relevance in the economic-financial field. Article 185 of the Consolidated Law on Finance (TUF), in fact, punishes conduct of market manipulation, which may include the dissemination of false or misleading news capable of influencing the price of financial instruments.
In cases where disinformation campaigns are carried out through specific computer techniques, the offenses of fraud (Article 640 of the Criminal Code), impersonation (Article 494 of the Criminal Code), frequently associated with the creation of false profiles on social networks, as well as the offenses of unauthorized access to computer systems (Article 615-ter of the Criminal Code) and unlawful interference in digital communications (Articles 617-quater and 617-sexies of the Criminal Code) may be integrated. The offense of fraud, moreover, could also be hypothesized in relation to false online reviews, when such conduct is instrumental in obtaining an unjust profit.
However, none of these offenses is capable of guaranteeing unified protection (at least ex post) with respect to the broader and more multifaceted phenomenon described so far. The failure to introduce a specific sanctioning discipline is perhaps the symptom of a limited perception of the actual harmful scope of this set of conducts, which from time to time are analyzed and narrated individually in the news and in public debate.
In recent years, moreover, a process of rethinking the discipline relating to online reviews has begun. In particular, some legislative proposals — including the bill on small and medium-sized enterprises, definitively approved by the Senate on 4 March 2026 and awaiting publication [44] – have provided for the introduction of specific obligations of transparency and traceability of digital reviews, as well as the recognition of protective instruments such as the right of reply and the authentication of reviews published on platforms.
The growing institutional attention to the phenomenon of disinformation reflects an awareness that is by now widespread at the European and international level. In 2024 the Vice-President of the European Commission Věra Jourová defined the systemic spread of fake news as “a real danger to democracy,” underlining how informational manipulation represents one of the main challenges for protecting informational pluralism and for the proper functioning of contemporary democratic systems [45].
In recent years the European Union has adopted a series of regulatory instruments which, although pursuing different purposes, contribute to outlining an increasingly articulated normative system for governing digital platforms.
One of the pillars of this architecture is the Digital Services Act (DSA), Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, fully in force since 2024. The DSA introduces a set of progressive obligations for providers of digital services, with particular attention to Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and large search engines. Among the most innovative elements of the regulation are obligations of transparency of recommendation algorithms, systems for reporting and removing illegal content, as well as the provision for periodic assessments of systemic risks connected to the functioning of platforms. Among such risks, the regulation expressly includes the dissemination of disinformation and the manipulation of democratic processes [46].
Alongside the DSA stands the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, which addresses the problem of concentration of economic power in the digital platforms sector. The DMA introduces specific obligations for so-called gatekeepers, namely the large platforms that control digital infrastructures essential for access to online markets. Although the regulation is primarily oriented toward protecting competition, it also affects indirectly the circulation of information in the digital environment, by imposing limits on self-preferencing practices and strengthening interoperability among digital services [47].
In parallel, the European Union has strengthened consumer protection in the context of digital commerce through Directive (EU) 2019/2161, known as the Omnibus Directive. This act, in amending the discipline of unfair commercial practices and consumer rights, introduces specific transparency obligations relating to online reviews. In particular, traders who publish reviews must indicate whether and how it has been verified that such reviews come from consumers who have actually used or purchased the reviewed product or service. The dissemination of false or manipulated reviews may therefore constitute a misleading commercial practice, with consequent legal responsibilities [48].
More recently, the European regulatory framework has been further broadened by the adoption of the Artificial Intelligence Regulation (AI Act), approved in 2024. Although not specifically dedicated to the phenomenon of disinformation, the AI Act introduces important transparency obligations for artificial intelligence systems capable of generating synthetic content, including images, audio, and realistic videos commonly defined as deepfakes. The regulation provides, in fact, that such content must be clearly identifiable as artificially generated, in order to prevent it from being used to manipulate public opinion or disseminate misleading information [49].
Taken together, these normative instruments outline a significant transformation of European law regarding digital platforms. Whereas in the initial phase of Internet development regulation had concentrated mainly on intermediary liability and on the freedom of circulation of information, the new European regulatory framework appears increasingly oriented toward protecting the integrity of the digital information ecosystem.
From this perspective, the regulation of platforms no longer concerns only the removal of illegal content, but extends to the management of systemic risks connected to the functioning of digital infrastructures, including disinformation, algorithmic manipulation, and distortions of the digital market. The European Union therefore appears to pursue a regulatory model that aims to balance technological innovation with the protection of the fundamental values of the European legal order, including freedom of expression, consumer protection, fair competition, and the proper functioning of democratic processes.
Despite the presence of civil, administrative, and criminal regulatory instruments suitable for repressing some forms of informational manipulation, the effectiveness of judicial action often stops in the face of structural obstacles of an evidentiary and practical nature.
One of the main critical factors, in fact, is represented by the anonymity or pseudonymization of users online. Digital platforms in fact allow the creation of accounts through non-verifiable or easily falsifiable identities, making it more difficult to identify with certainty the subjects responsible for the dissemination of unlawful content. The use of fictitious digital identities, coordinated profiles, or temporary accounts often allows the authors of disinformation campaigns to operate without leaving traces easily attributable to their real identity [50].
A further element of complexity is represented by the growing use of bots and automated systems for disseminating content. In such cases, reconstructing individual responsibilities becomes particularly complex, since the dissemination of content occurs through distributed technological infrastructures and at times is difficult to trace back to specific legal subjects [51].
To the technical difficulties are added, moreover, problems of a territorial and jurisdictional nature. Digital platforms operate on a global scale and content may be generated, hosted, and disseminated through servers located in different States. This transnational dimension makes it more complex to identify the competent jurisdiction and to apply effectively the instruments of international judicial cooperation, especially in cases where the subjects involved operate from countries with different regulations or with limited mechanisms of judicial collaboration [52].
The analysis of the legal, technological, and economic profiles of disinformation highlights how the fight against such phenomena cannot be entrusted exclusively to traditional repressive instruments. The systemic nature of the digital information ecosystem, characterized by algorithmic intermediation, the globality of platforms, and the speed of dissemination of content, requires a structural and multi-level approach, capable of integrating normative, technological, and cultural instruments.
From this perspective, strengthening policies to combat disinformation must necessarily move along several complementary directions.
A first field of intervention concerns the strengthening of transparency obligations for digital platforms. The growing centrality of algorithms in the selection and distribution of content makes it in fact necessary to develop more advanced mechanisms of transparency and responsibility with respect to the criteria that determine the visibility of information online. In this direction move the initiatives of European regulations introducing obligations of algorithmic accountability, requiring large digital platforms to assess and mitigate the systemic risks connected to the dissemination of disinformation content [53].
A second profile concerns the greater reliability of online reviews, which today represent one of the most influential tools in the formation of consumption decisions. The introduction of Step-up Authentication systems or other advanced mechanisms for verifying users’ identities could help reduce the spread of false or manipulated reviews, and this would make it possible to strengthen the link between digital identity and published content, increasing the traceability of online interactions.
Alongside such instruments, systems of certification of informational sources may also be accompanied, capable of providing users with reliable indicators on the origin and reliability of content. A further strategic element consists in promoting independent information verification systems (fact-checking), which may operate in a transparent and verifiable way also with respect to online reviews and user-generated content. Such mechanisms, if adequately structured and independent, may contribute to strengthening the quality of public debate and to reducing the spread of false or misleading information [54].
In parallel, strengthening policies of digital education and media literacy of individual citizens assumes a fundamental role. The ability to recognize manipulated content, verify sources, and understand the functioning of algorithms represents, in fact, one of the most effective tools for preventing disinformation. Numerous international institutions have highlighted how promoting digital culture constitutes an essential element for the resilience of democratic societies against informational manipulation campaigns [55].
Finally, a central role in reform perspectives is represented by the growing attention to the principles of algorithmic accountability. The algorithms that regulate the distribution of content on digital platforms significantly influence the visibility of information and the formation of public opinion. The possibility of subjecting such systems to forms of independent audit and regulatory verification represents one of the most promising tools for ensuring greater transparency and responsibility in the digital information ecosystem [56].
More than the spread of falsehood in itself, what today causes concern is the inadequacy of the legal system (Italian and European) to govern it in an organic way. There is still no unified discipline capable of preventing informational manipulation ex ante and, at the same time, countering its effects ex post with instruments effective and coherent with the nature of the phenomenon. The current system remains fragmented, episodic, entrusted to scattered rules and to remedies that are often tardy with respect to the speed with which deceptive content spreads, becomes established, and produces damage. Thus, while technology industrializes deception, the law too often continues to chase after it without fully understanding it. It is precisely in this asymmetry that the weakness of the public response is measured: there is not only a lack of an adequate sanction, there is a lack of an overall normative vision. As long as this gap persists, fake news and manipulations will continue to prosper in the cracks of a system that, rather than preventing the phenomenon, suffers its evolution.
Prof. Avv. Roberto De Vita
Avv. Giada Caprini
Avv. Marco Della Bruna
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[19] European Parliamentary Research Service, Information manipulation in the age of generative artificial intelligence (2025), <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2025/779259/EPRS_BRI(2025)779259_EN.pdf>
[20] Chesney, D. Citron,Deepfakes and the New Disinformation War, Foreign Affairs (2019), <https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2018-12-11/deepfakes-and-new-disinformation-war>
[21] European Parliamentary Research Service, Tackling deepfakes in European policy (2021), <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_STU(2021)690039>
[22] Parlamento europeo, Artificial Intelligence Act – normativa europea sull’intelligenza artificiale, <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20230601STO93804/eu-ai-act-first-regulation-on-artificial-intelligence>
[23] UNESCO, Journalism, Fake News and Disinformation. Handbook for Journalism Education and Training (2018),
<https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000265552>
[24] European Commission, Tackling Online Disinformation: A European Approach (2018), <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52018DC0236>
[25] European Commission, Code of Practice on Disinformation (2022), <https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/code-practice-disinformation>
[26] Cfr. EEAS, “Doppelganger strikes back: FIMI activities in the context of the EE24”, 2024, <https://euvsdisinfo.eu/uploads/2024/06/EEAS-TechnicalReport-DoppelgangerEE24_June2024.pdf>; EDMO, “Disinformation about Israel/Hamas conflict flooded the EU in October”, 2023, <https://edmo.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/EDMO-29-Horizontal-FCB-updated.pdf>; European Commission, “Commission opens formal proceedings against X under the Digital Services Act”, 18 dicembre 2023, <https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-opens-formal-proceedings-against-x-under-digital-services-act>; UNRWA, “The spread of misinformation & disinformation continues to be used as a weapon of war in Gaza”, 2024, https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/spread-misinformation-disinformation-continues-be-used-weapon-war-gaza>.
[27] Cfr. OHCHR, “A/75/172: Disciplinary measures against judges and the use of “disguised” sanctions” (2020), <https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a75172-disciplinary-measures-against-judges-and-use-disguised-sanctions>; v. anche ENCJ, “Statement by the Executive Board of the ENCJ On Pressure and Intimidation of Judges through Media”, 17 dicembre 2025, <https://obt-jud.hu/en/statement-executive-board-encj-pressure-and-intimidation-judges-through-media>
[28] Corte EDU, Grande Camera, “Morice v. France”, 23 aprile 2015, <https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-154265>
[29] OKO.press, “Smear campaign coordinated by the Ministry of Justice, aimed to discredit Polish judges, discovered” (2019), <https://oko.press/why-did-the-polish-deputy-minister-of-justice-resign-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-piebiak-scandal> e Supreme Court of the United States, “2024 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary”, <https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/year-end/2024year-endreport.pdf>
[30] Europol, “Facing reality? Law enforcement and the challenge of deepfakes”, <https://www.europol.europa.eu/publications-events/publications/facing-reality-law-enforcement-and-challenge-of-deepfakes>; v. anche Europol, “Europol report finds deepfake technology could become staple tool for organised crime”, 28 aprile 2022, <https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/europol-report-finds-deepfake-technology-could-become-staple-tool-for-organised-crime>
[31] L’economia dell’attenzione e il paradosso che sta uccidendo i giornali, <https://www.feltrinellieducation.it/magazine/l-economia-dell-attenzione-e-il-paradosso-che-sta-uccidendo-i-giornali>
[32] Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, PublicAffairs, 2019; v. anche Reuters Institute, Digital News Report 2024, <https://www.digitalnewsreport.org>
[33] Council of Europe, “Information Disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policy making”, <https://edoc.coe.int/en/media/7495-information-disorder-toward-an-interdisciplinary-framework-for-research-and-policy-making.html> ); International IDEA – Clingendael Institute, “Protecting Politics: Deterring the Influence of Organized Crime on Elections”, <https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/protecting-politics-deterring-influence-organized-crime-elections>
[34] Council of Europe, “Information Disorder”, cit.; International IDEA – Clingendael Institute, “Protecting Politics”, cit., che descrive le modalità attraverso cui la criminalità organizzata interferisce nei processi elettorali.
[35] AGCOM, “News vs. Fake nel sistema dell’informazione”, <https://www.agcom.it/pubblicazioni/rapporti/news-vs-fake-nel-sistema-dellinformazione-interim-report-indagine>; Ministero dell’interno, “Atti intimidatori nei confronti degli amministratori locali”, <https://www.interno.gov.it/it/stampa-e-comunicazione/dati-e-statistiche/atti-intimidatori-nei-confronti-amministratori-locali> e “Report anno 2024”, <https://www.interno.gov.it/sites/default/files/2025-04/report_atti_intimidatori_amm_locali_anno_2024.pdf>; G. De Feo, G. De Luca, “Mafia in the Ballot Box”, in American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fpol.20150551; A. Alesina, S. Piccolo, P. Pinotti, “Organized Crime, Violence, and Politics”, in The Review of Economic Studies, <https://academic.oup.com/restud/article/86/2/457/5060718>
[36] C. Wardle, H. Derakhshan, Information Disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policy making, Council of Europe (2017), <https://edoc.coe.int/en/media/7495-information-disorder-toward-an-interdisciplinary-framework-for-research-and-policy-making.html>
[37] OECD, Online Consumer Reviews: The Case of Fake Reviews and Consumer Protection (2019),
<https://www.oecd.org/competition/consumer-policy/fake-reviews.htm>
[38] European Commission, Behavioural Study on Misleading Online Reviews (2020),
<https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9f9b6d2a-0f0e-11ea-8c1f-01aa75ed71a1>
[39] M. Luca, G. Zervas, Fake It Till You Make It: Reputation, Competition, and Yelp Review Fraud, Harvard Business School Working Paper (2016), <https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51974>
[40] Direttiva (UE) 2019/2161 del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio (Omnibus Directive), <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019L2161>
[41] Regolamento (UE) 2022/2065 – Digital Services Act, <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022R2065>
[42] On which the Italian Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) has jurisdiction. In parallel, independent authorities play an increasingly relevant role in combating online disinformation practices. In particular, the Communications Regulatory Authority (AGCOM) exercises supervisory functions in matters of informational pluralism and regulation of digital platforms, also intervening with guidelines and monitoring tools relating to the dissemination of disinformation content in the digital space.
[43] Cass. Pen., Sez. V, 8 giugno 2015, n. 24431.
[44] Senate Act no. 1484-B definitively approved on 4 March 2026 and awaiting publication, <https://www.senato.it/service/PDF/PDFServer/BGT/01496644.pdf> <https://www.senato.it/export/ddl/full/59139>
[45] European Commission – statements by Vice-President Věra Jourová on disinformation,<https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/it/news/vice-president-jourova-mission-canada-discuss-issues-related-disinformation-and-foreign>
[46] Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council – Digital Services Act, <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022R2065>
[47] Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council – Digital Markets Act, <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022R1925>
[48] Directive (EU) 2019/2161 of the European Parliament and of the Council – Omnibus Directive, <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019L2161>
[49] European Parliament – Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20230601STO93804/eu-ai-act-first-regulation-on-artificial-intelligence>
[50] Council of Europe, Information Disorder: Toward an Interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policy Making (Wardle, Derakhshan, 2017), <https://rm.coe.int/information-disorder-report/1680762772>
[51] Ferrara E. e al., The Rise of Social Bots, Communications of the ACM, 2016, <https://cacm.acm.org/research/the-rise-of-social-bots/>
[52] Council of Europe, Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, <https://www.coe.int/en/web/cybercrime/the-budapest-convention>
[53] Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 – Digital Services Act, <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022R2065>
[54] European Commission, Code of Practice on Disinformation (2022), <https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/code-practice-disinformation>
[55] UNESCO, Media and Information Literacy: Policy and Strategy Guidelines, <https://www.unesco.org/en/media-information-literacy>
[56] European Parliamentary Research Service, A governance framework for algorithmic accountability and transparency, <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_STU(2019)624262>
[57] S. Wells, The Mandela effect tricks our brains with false memories. Is AI making it worse?, National Geographic, 04.08.2025, <https://www.nationalgeographic.it/tutto-cio-che-sappiamo-sull-effetto-mandela-dai-falsi-ricordi-all-impatto-dell-intelligenza-artificiale>
“Crimes against the Public Administration, anti-corruption legislation and control systems in the EU and Italy“: the lectures of Prof. Avv. Roberto De Vita ‘s class for the 39th Qualification Course “Economic Financial Investigator” at the Guardia di Finanza School of Economic and Financial Police begin today.
abuse of office
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Cryptography has become a structured and indispensable component of the digital dimension of society and individual relationships—no longer a tool reserved for a few, but a fundamental element for all.
In Italy, criminal investigations and trials, which are well-structured around testimonial evidence, fail when faced with encrypted evidence, unable to resolve the dilemma between the right to remain silent and the obligation to surrender encryption keys.
In the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium, laws and precedents reflect the critical conflict between the privilege against self-incrimination and the impenetrability of cryptographic systems. With numerous references to case law (Italian, supranational, and foreign), legal doctrine, and legislative texts, this work explores the complexities through both a phenomenological and comparative lens.
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Article by Prof. Avv. Roberto De Vita published on no. 2/2025 of the Rassegna dell’Arma dei Carabinieri (Carabinieri’s Review).
L’operazione investigativa franco-olandese che ha portato alla raccolta massiva di dati da parte di autorità europee ha stimolato una varia e corposa produzione giurisprudenziale. Al tempo stesso, si è acceso il dibattito sulla materia dell’acquisizione di comunicazioni cifrate da dispositivi criptati e sulle relative implicazioni sui temi del contraddittorio e del controllo giurisdizionale, che ha stimolato numerose riflessioni critiche sul bilanciamento tra efficacia investigativa e garanzie difensive. Infatti, a partire dai casi EncroChat e Sky-ECC, si sono succedute pronunce sovranazionali e nazionali, dalla sentenza della Corte di Giustizia dell’Unione Europea sul caso EncroChat, che ha definito i criteri di legittimità per l’emissione e l’utilizzo dell’Ordine Europeo di Indagine (OEI), fino alle sentenze “gemelle” delle Sezioni Unite della Cassazione del 2024, che hanno indirizzato la recente giurisprudenza italiana e le attività di Autorità Giudiziaria, Polizia giudiziaria, avvocati e consulenti.
The Franco-Dutch investigative operation that led to the mass collection of data by European authorities has triggered a wide and substantial case law. At the same time, it has sparked a debate on the acquisition of encrypted communications from secure devices and its implications on adversarial proceedings and judicial oversight. This debate has prompted numerous critical reflections on the balance between investigative effectiveness and the protection of defendants’ rights. Starting from the EncroChat and Sky-ECC cases, both supranational and national rulings have followed — from the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the EncroChat case, which established the legitimacy criteria for the issuance and use of the European Investigation Order (EIO), to the 2024 “twin” rulings of the Italian Supreme Court’s United Sections, which have shaped recent Italian case law and the practices of judicial authorities, law enforcement, lawyers, and technical consultants.
Sommario: 1. The EncroChat case. – 2. The ruling of the European Union Court of Justice. – 3. National cases: from EncroChat to Sky-ECC. – 4. The twin rulings of the United Sections of the Court of Cassation.
The constant technological evolution of encryption systems protecting digital devices has significantly increased, in recent years, the importance of issues related to the methods used to acquire the data stored on them.
In the European context, particular relevance has been given to the judgment delivered on April 30, 2024, by the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-670/22 – M.N. (EncroChat), following questions referred by a German court (Landgericht Berlin). The case primarily concerned the legitimacy of European Investigation Orders (EIOs) issued by the German Public Prosecutor’s Office to France, requesting data from the EncroChat messaging application collected by French authorities, to be used in criminal proceedings in Germany.
The case[1] stems from a lengthy investigative operation, following which—in 2020—the police forces and judicial authorities of France and the Netherlands (supported by Europol and Eurojust) announced they had dismantled the encrypted communication network in question, which was primarily used by organized criminal groups. During the investigation, millions of messages exchanged via the platform were intercepted and analyzed in real time.
The distinctive feature of these messaging systems lay in the ability to purchase subscriptions (costing thousands of euros) for the use of modified devices provided by vendors, equipped with features designed to reduce traceability. These included the disabling of microphones, GPS, and cameras, automatic deletion of sent messages after just a few seconds, and more. Additionally, users could enable a “dummy mode” that made the phone appear as a standard Android device, as well as a “panic button” to immediately erase the entire contents of the device[2].
Starting from an operation carried out on an EncroChat server located in Roubaix, France, investigators developed a trojan malware that was first injected into the server and then into users’ devices, disguised as an operating system update. Out of 64,134 registered users, 32,477 accounts from 122 different countries were monitored. Among these, 380 were located in France and as many as 4,600 in Germany. Thanks to the chats extracted from EncroChat and those obtained in a similar operation involving Sky-ECC servers in Belgium, over one hundred members of drug trafficking organizations have recently been convicted in Belgium[3].
Through this operation, between April and June 2020, French authorities were able to collect various types of data: device IMEI codes, users’ email addresses, date and time of communications, the location of the antennas used to access the network, as well as the textual and multimedia contents of ongoing conversations. They also managed to access the entire memory of the intercepted devices, including messages sent before the start of the investigation that had not yet been deleted. These actions led to numerous arrests[4], even in countries that had not been directly involved in the investigation but where the use of encrypted phones was particularly widespread among criminal organizations. The interception operation concluded on June 13, 2020, when EncroChat realized its systems had been compromised and sent an alert message to all its users.
The defendant in the case brought before the CJEU was also a user of the platform, which he used to manage drug trafficking operations. He faced fourteen charges related to drug dealing and four for possession of narcotics, including 188 kilograms of marijuana and 3.5 kilograms of cocaine, all within the period between April and May 2020. The proceedings were initiated after the BKA (Bundeskriminalamt)[5] acquired data related to German users, obtained through cooperation with the joint Franco-Dutch investigative team. Only at a later stage did the German authorities issue a European Investigation Order (EIO) to officially use the data provided by the Gendarmerie as part of their investigation.
Since this method of data acquisition was considered to conflict with the safeguards provided by German and European law, the Regional Court of Berlin deemed it appropriate to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union to assess its legality and admissibility.
In its judgment, the CJEU based its reasoning on the provisions of Directive 2014/41/EU[6] concerning the European Investigation Order (EIO) in criminal matters.
First, the Court focused on the authority competent to issue an EIO aimed at obtaining the transmission of evidence already in the possession of the competent national authorities. It clarified that this authority does not necessarily have to be a judge, provided that this is in accordance with the legal provisions of the issuing Member State. In Germany, for instance, an order for the transmission of already collected data may be issued by a public prosecutor—unlike an order for data interception, which must be issued by a judge. In the case at hand, therefore, a public prosecutor could validly issue an EIO requesting the transmission of EncroChat data already gathered by the executing State (in this instance, the French authorities).
Secondly, the public prosecutor may issue an EIO for the transmission of evidence already held by the authorities of the executing State, even if such evidence was obtained through the interception of encrypted telecommunications by the authorities of the issuing State, as long as the investigative order complies with all conditions that may be required under the law of the issuing State for the transmission of such evidence in a purely domestic case.
Where such a measure is not permitted in a comparable domestic case, the notification allows the competent authority of the notified State to indicate that the interception cannot be carried out or must be terminated, or, where applicable, that the material already intercepted cannot be used or may only be used under certain conditions. This not only ensures respect for the sovereignty of the notified State, but also safeguards the rights of individuals involved in the interception.
Finally, the Court stated that the obligation to exclude information and evidence obtained in breach of EU law requirements arises only if a court concludes that the EIO was issued unlawfully. In any case, the rules concerning the admissibility of evidence and the assessment of information in criminal proceedings fall within national law. However, the rights of the defence and the right to a fair trial must be guaranteed: if a defendant is unable to examine or challenge important information or evidence obtained through the EIO, and such evidence is likely to have a decisive influence on the facts and on the judge’s decision, it must be excluded from criminal proceedings by national courts.
In Italy, the Court of Cassation reviewed a decision by the Rome Tribunal, which had rejected a defendant’s request to disclose the methods used by the police to acquire and decrypt data from Sky-ECC[7], a platform based on encrypted phones similar to EncroChat[8].
The Tribunal had argued that, since the material had been obtained by Europol and foreign judicial authorities on the basis of a European Investigation Order (EIO), the information could be used without further verification, relying on the presumption that the interception had been carried out lawfully.
The Court of Cassation, however, ruled that encrypted messages obtained by Europol and foreign authorities could not be used unless prosecutors explained how such evidence had been acquired.
According to the Court, the principle of adversarial proceedings implies a dialectical process that concerns not only the content of the acquired material, but also the methods by which it was obtained. Therefore, the defendant should be able to challenge not only the substance of the evidence, but also the process of its acquisition, in order to ensure the full right to defense and to assess the relevance, reliability, and probative value of the evidence[9].
However, following that ruling, in 2023 the same Italian Court of Cassation issued other judgments concerning encrypted communication platforms such as Sky-ECC and EncroChat, departing from the aforementioned principles. Instead, it confirmed the validity and admissibility of data acquired in criminal proceedings through European Investigation Orders (EIOs), adopting a stance aimed at preserving investigative results rather than upholding guarantees related to adversarial scrutiny of evidence acquisition methods[10].
In particular, the twin rulings of 2024 (nos. 23755 and 23756) established a series of legal principles regarding European Investigation Orders (EIOs) and the cross-border transmission of evidence within the Union—principles that may serve as an important interpretive benchmark, at least within Italy[11].
Regarding the legal classification, the Court clarified that such operations cannot be considered as a “seizure of documents and computer data stored abroad” (Article 234-bis of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure). This provision was deemed incompatible with the legal framework governing the EIO, as it does not entail any form of cooperation with judicial authorities of other States. Furthermore, Recital 35 of the Directive explicitly states that the EIO takes precedence over any other international instrument applicable in the same field.
As a result, when relying on the EIO, the guarantees provided for the collection of evidence through this instrument must be respected. Chief among these is the principle of equivalence, which requires that the investigative act requested through an EIO must be admissible under the same conditions as would apply in a comparable domestic case. Another key element is the principle of proportionality, which demands that any restrictions on fundamental rights be limited strictly to what is necessary, without undermining their essential content.
The central issue concerns the application of these principles to evidence already independently collected by foreign authorities, which was gathered in accordance with the laws of the country of origin, rather than following the procedural rules of the domestic legal system.
Since neither the Directive nor Legislative Decree No. 108 of 21 June 2017[12] (which implemented the EIO by transposing the Directive) provides specific guidance on this matter, the relevant legal reference becomes Article 78 of the implementing provisions of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure. This article governs the acquisition of documentation relating to acts carried out by a foreign judicial authority within a criminal proceeding, according to Article 238 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (which regulates the transfer of evidence from one proceeding to another within the same legal system). Although originally conceived at a time when the only international cooperation tool for evidence gathering was the letter rogatory, this provision is considered applicable to the EIO as well.
From this rule, the Italian Supreme Court’s United Sections derived a general principle that underpins their entire reasoning: in cases involving evidence already collected abroad prior to the issuance of the EIO, equivalence with domestic proceedings must not be assessed based on how the evidence was formed, but rather in terms of how it circulates between different proceedings.
It follows that, according to the Court of Cassation, the only evidentiary rules relevant to the acquisition in Italy of evidence gathered abroad are those provided under Article 238 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure (c.p.p.), as referenced by Article 78 of its implementing provisions. Additionally, if the evidence was obtained through wiretapping or interceptions, Article 270 c.p.p., which governs the use of intercepted communications in other proceedings, also applies[13].
The United Sections of the Court further ruled out the need for prior judicial authorization from the issuing State when an EIO is used to acquire encrypted communications that have already been autonomously collected abroad.
If, at the national level, the transfer of evidence between proceedings does not require prior judicial authorization, then the same principle applies to the EIO. In fact, neither Article 238 nor Article 270 c.p.p. imposes such a requirement.
By virtue of the principle of equivalence, the Court of Cassation thus held that an EIO of this kind may be issued directly by the public prosecutor, even when the evidence has been collected abroad through interceptions or the acquisition of call data records.
This conclusion is also supported by the judgment of the Court of Justice in the EncroChat case[14], which confirmed that the public prosecutor is among the authorities authorized to issue an EIO, provided they are competent, in a comparable domestic case, to order an investigative measure aimed at obtaining evidence already held by national authorities.
According to the Court, even though prior judicial authorization is not required for issuing an EIO to acquire encrypted communications already collected abroad, this does not mean that all forms of judicial oversight in the issuing State can be excluded. In fact, the EIO system necessarily entails judicial control to ensure compliance with fundamental rights and the principle of proportionality. It is also essential to guarantee that the investigative acts requested can be challenged through mechanisms equivalent to those available in domestic cases[15].
As a result, the issuing State must still provide for judicial oversight, even if it occurs at a later stage. The Court of Cassation considers that such review falls to the national judge who is called upon to use the evidence gathered abroad via an EIO—such as the trial judge or the judge deciding on a precautionary measure—who has the authority to assess whether the conditions for admitting and using that evidence are met. Moreover, this ex post review would be sufficient to safeguard the right to challenge provided under Article 14 of the Directive.
The position taken by the United Sections in these recent rulings has not been without criticism. As noted in academic commentary, the real issue is not the existence of judicial oversight per se, but rather its limitations—since the rules governing the admissibility of evidence obtained via EIOs in domestic proceedings remain unclear.
Indeed, despite the existence of a common legal framework for EIOs, Member States have thus far been unable to agree on harmonized rules regarding the admissibility of evidence, which continues to pose a significant barrier to effective European judicial cooperation[16].
Moreover, this implies that, if the principle of equivalence in terms of evidentiary forms and guarantees were to be applied strictly, most of the evidence would end up being inadmissible in domestic proceedings—particularly in cases like these, where the evidence was gathered well before, and independently of, the issuance of an EIO[17].
However, several commentators have pointed out that the actions carried out by the French judicial police would never have been admissible in an Italian trial if conducted under the rules of Italian domestic law. In effect, the operation amounted to mass surveillance without specific targets, resulting in a dragnet impact on all users involved[18]. Moreover, the model of deferred judicial oversight is unconvincing to some, appearing more like a mere opportunity to “have a say,” lacking any real effectiveness, and bearing little resemblance to the adversarial and immediate formation of evidence typically expected in a fair trial[19].
Following the twin rulings of the United Sections, the Court of Cassation confirmed the aforementioned approach and went even further, also allowing the use of IMSI Catcher technology in criminal investigations. This tool enables monitoring of mobile devices within a specific area by identifying the unique IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) code of SIM cards. It does not intercept the content of communications, but rather identifies the devices operating within the area—making it a useful and preparatory step for subsequent interceptions.
Although this activity closely resembles the acquisition of phone records in terms of the information obtained, the Court held that it should instead be classified as a proactive act of the judicial police and not as an evidentiary tool. It ruled that it does not constitute a means of obtaining evidence, but merely the “operational basis for the interception of conversations”[20].
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), however, takes a different view. It found a violation of Article 8 of the ECHR in cases where information capable of identifying an individual user (in the specific case, data linked to an IP address) was obtained without proper safeguards. In particular, the Court emphasized the lack of protection against arbitrary interference, abuse, or the absence of independent oversight of police operations[21].
The impact of the recent rulings by the Court of Cassation is beginning to emerge in the operational practices of judicial authorities. Notably, newly published guidelines from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rome address the seizure of mobile phones and other digital devices[22]. These guidelines, taking into account the substantial case law on the matter, include the position that “the seizure of IT devices and their subsequent analysis may be ordered by the public prosecutor without prior judicial authorization.”
The stance taken by the Rome Prosecutor’s Office enters a highly debated area, especially in light of the controversial legislative process[23] currently underway to establish a more systematic legal framework for the seizure of digital devices (Bill No. C. 1822[24]). Contrary to much of the case law (including international precedents) and the approach adopted in the abovementioned guidelines, the intention of the legislature appears to be to require a judicial order issued by the preliminary investigations judge upon request of the public prosecutor.
In this context, a comprehensive legislative intervention is highly desirable—one that brings clarity to a regulatory field which, both in Italy and abroad, has seen significant divergence in legal doctrine and case law. So far, this has not produced a fully coherent approach that adequately respects the principles of adversarial proceedings and the right of the accused to a proper defense.
[1] Cfr. Roberto De Vita, Marco Della Bruna, EncroChat: il rinvio pregiudiziale alla Corte di Giustizia dell’Unione Europea, in DEVITALAW, 8 aprile 2023, https://www.devita.law/encrochat-rinvio/.
[2] Gareth Corfield, Euro police forces infiltrated encrypted phone biz – and now ‘criminal’ EncroChat users are being rounded up, in The Register, 2 luglio 2020, https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/02/encrochat_op_venetic_encrypted_phone_arrests.
[3] Tribunal de première instance francophone de Bruxelles, 46e chambre correctionnelle, n. 2024/6283, 29 ottobre 2024.
[4] Nei soli Paesi Bassi, centinaia di investigatori hanno utilizzato i dati estratti dalle chat per arrestare oltre 100 persone, smantellare 19 laboratori di droghe sintetiche, e sequestrare ingenti quantità di cocaina, crystal meth, armi, veicoli e milioni di euro in contanti.
[5] BKA, https://www.bka.de/DE/Home/home_node.html.
[6] In particolare, sui considerando 2, da 5 a 8, 19 e 30 e artt. 1, 2, 4, 6, 14, 30, 31, 33.
[7] Cfr. sulla vicenda complessiva, Marcello Daniele, OEI e messaggi digitali già acquisiti all’estero, Riflessioni a partire dal caso Sky ECC, Testo della relazione, ampliata e corredata di note, svolta nell’ambito del corso La cooperazione giudiziaria in materia penale nel quadro dei processi europei di digitalizzazione della giustizia (Napoli, 9-11 dicembre 2024), organizzato dalla Scuola Superiore della Magistratura, in Sistema Penale, 27 marzo 2025,
https://sistemapenale.it/it/articolo/daniele-oei-e-messaggi-digitali-gia-acquisiti-allestero.
[8] Per approfondire, si veda Antonio Laudisa, Marco Della Bruna, Sky-ECC: il diritto di difesa e il contraddittorio sulle modalità di acquisizione di chat criptate. Nota a Cassazione penale n. 32915 del 07.09.2022 , in DEVITALAW, 8 ottobre 2022, https://www.devita.law/sky-ecc/.
[9] Cass. Pen., Sez. IV, 15 luglio – 7 settembre 2022, n. 32915.
[10] Cfr. ad esempio, Cass. Pen., Sez. VI, 26 ottobre – 21 novembre 2023, n. 46833, in ordine alla utilizzabilità di documentazione di atti compiuti autonomamente da autorità giudiziarie straniere in diversi procedimenti penali.
[11] Cass. Pen., SS.UU., 29 febbraio – 14 giugno 2024, n. 23755 e Cass. Pen., SS. UU., 29 febbraio – 14 giugno 2024, n. 23756. In senso conforme, cfr. Cass. Pen., Sez. III, 26 settembre – 3 dicembre 2024, n. 44046; Cass. Pen., Sez. IV, 21 maggio – 22 agosto 2024, n. 32961; Cass. Pen., Sez. IV, 10 aprile – 3 luglio 2024, n. 25912; Cass. Pen., Sez. III, 22 gennaio – 3 marzo 2025, n. 8865 che, sulla base dei principi espressi dalle Sezioni Unite, ha ribadito, tra gli altri, il “principio della presunzione di legittimità delle misure mediante la quali lo Stato di esecuzione ha raccolto le prove e di conformità ai diritti fondamentali dell’attività svolta dall’autorità giudiziaria estera nell’ambito di rapporti di collaborazione ai fini dell’acquisizione di prove, e dell’onere per la difesa di allegare e provare il fatto dal quale dipende la violazione denunciata“.
[12] D.Lgs. 21 giugno 2017, n. 108, Norme di attuazione della Direttiva 2014/41/UE del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio, del 3 aprile 2014, relativa all’ordine europeo di indagine penale.
[13] Cass. Pen., SS.UU., 28 novembre 2019 – 2 gennaio 2020, n. 51; Cass. Pen., Sez. VI, 20 gennaio – 11 giugno 2021, n. 23148; Cass. Pen., Sez. IV, 25 giugno – 8 luglio 2020, n. 20127.
[14] CGUE, C-670/22, cit.
[15] La Corte di Giustizia, nella sentenza Gavanozov II (causa C-852/19, 11 novembre 2021) ha stabilito che deve esistere un mezzo di impugnazione anche quando non è previsto per un caso analogo nel diritto interno, in applicazione del diritto a un ricorso effettivo sancito dall’art. 47 della Carta di Nizza.
[16] Marcello Daniele, Le sentenze “gemelle” delle Sezioni Unite sui criptofonini, in Sistema Penale, 17 luglio 2024, https://www.sistemapenale.it/it/scheda/daniele-le-sentenze-gemelle-delle-sezioni-unite-sui-criptofonini#_ftn9.
[17] Marcello Daniele, OEI e messaggi digitali già acquisiti all’estero, Riflessioni a partire dal caso Sky ECC, cit.
[18] Gian Domenico Caiazza, Il Grande Fratello, l’incubo delle intercettazioni di massa è già realtà: siamo già tutti dentro Minority Report, in Il Riformista, 7 dicembre 2025, https://www.ilriformista.it/il-grande-fratello-lincubo-delle-intercettazioni-di-massa-e-gia-realta-siamo-gia-tutti-dentro-minority-report-448364/.
[19] Luca Marafioti, Sezioni Unite e tirannie tecnologiche: diritto di difesa, contraddittorio e “criptofonini”, in Diritto di Difesa, 18 settembre 2024, https://dirittodidifesa.eu/sezioni-unite-e-tirannie-tecnologiche-diritto-di-difesa-contraddittorio-e-criptofonini-di-luca-marafioti/.
[20] Cass. Pen. 44047/2024 cit.
[21] CEDU, Benedik c. Slovenia, ricorso n. 62357/14, 24 aprile 2018.
[22] Procura della Repubblica presso il Tribunale Ordinario di Roma, n. 1637/2025 Prot. Gab. CIRC. N. 10, 9 giugno 2025, https://www.sistemapenale.it/pdf_contenuti/1749504886_circ-n-10-del-9-giugno-2025-linee-guida-in-materia-di-sequestri-di-telefoni-e-altri-strumenti-informatici.pdf.
[23] A proposito del d.d.l. in materia di sequestro di dispositivi, sistemi informatici o telematici o memorie digitali: le osservazioni del Procuratore nazionale antimafia e del Presidente dell’ANM, Sistema Penale, 25 maggio 2025, https://www.sistemapenale.it/it/documenti/a-proposito-del-ddl-in-materia-di-sequestro-di-dispositivi-sistemi-informatici-o-telematici-o-memorie-digitali-le-osservazioni-del-procuratore-nazionale-antimafia-e-del-presidente-dellanm
[24] Approvata dal Senato il 10 aprile 2024 e trasmessa alla Camera dei Deputati, assegnata alla II Commissione Giustizia, in corso di esame in Commissione https://www.senato.it/leg/19/BGT/Schede/Ddliter/58159.htm. Per approfondire, Roberto De Vita, Valentina Guerrisi, Antonio Laudisa, Marco Della Bruna, La prova digitale nel processo penale, DEVITALAW, Roma, 2 maggio 2025.
Today we will be at the Women’s Anti-Aggression Seminar organized by APCUP Italy at Augustea Sport City.
The initiative was created to promote awareness, prevention and self-defense, offering concrete tools to counter all forms of violence.
During the seminar, we will address the legal profiles of victim protection, within a multidisciplinary discussion involving experts in self-defense, communication and gender-based violence.
Prof. Avv. Roberto De Vita will give a lectio magistralis today at the Police High School for First Executives of the State Police on the topic of “Digital Evidence in the Criminal Trial.”
In his talk he will address, with a systemic approach and operational projection, the key issues related to digital evidence, from the implications of cryptography to the future of investigations in criminal proceedings.
Report – Episode of 11/16/2025
Report by Daniele Autieri
This is the story of Federica Federici and her battle to find her daughter, kidnapped four years ago by her husband and father of the child. A personal drama that leads to the geopolitical balances in the region, pulling a thread from Almasri to the highest levels of the Italian government.
Read the original article on Il Fatto Quotidiano
by Marco Grasso
According to the Italian government’s official version, there were reasons of national interest behind the return to al-masri‘s Libya . Last January. photos of the general getting off an Italianstate plane have gone around the world . Thereis a lesser-known story, however, that shows how Italy, despite the condescension shown toward an official wanted by the InternationalCriminal Court for crimes against humanity, struggle to defend their citizens in Libya. It is about the kidnapping of an Italian girl : little Hager ,who isnow 7 years old, taken almost four years ago to her mother, Federica Federici,a 34-year-old Roman office worker , from the former Libyan husband, Mohamed B., a member of a family protected by a powerfullocal clan , the one headed by Muammar al-Dhawi. A painful family affair ,which at one point, according to one version provided and confirmed to the family by qualified institutionalfigures , would cross Iaffaire Almasri. And also because of this intersection true, alleged or boasted, the dossier has become very thorny and has been circulating on desksfor months of most highest representatives of the government.
THE COUPLE had met in Malta and marriedin Italy, where Hagerwas born in 2018 .She converts, however,the man struggles to integrate and shows signs of growing religious intransigence. On March 9 , 2022, using his father’s illness as an excuse, he kidnaps his daughter. A lawsuit is triggered.
Willing to do anything, Federica moved to Tripoli, with the help of a contract provided by the Italian embassy. Prosecutions go on; today a European and an international arrest warrant hangs over Mohamed B., issued following a request for precautionary measures issued by the Prosecutor’s Office Di Roma. And even a Libyan court, the Islamic court of Bab Ben Gashir, ruled on the case in the fall of 2024, ordering in a historic ruling, the return and exclusive custody of the little girl to her Italian mother, dropping the charge of apostasy.
Meanwhile, however, nothing moves. Mohamed B.-protected by a diplomatic passport and brother of a Libyan Foreign Ministry delegate to Palestinian Relations-is apparently and inexplicably nowhere to be found. Until, last January, the return of the General accused torturer seemed to open a glimmer of hope: “The Almasri case was shown to me by the Agency as a great opportunity for exchange. Since then I have been waiting impatiently for someone to come knocking on my door to return what was taken from me. But no one has ever come knocking.” These words are written in her own handwriting by the child’s mother, Federica Federici, in a letter delivered in late July to Giorgia Meloni, after several meetings took place in the presence of top government officials and the premier’s sister Arianna. The agency to which the woman refers is Axis, the foreign intelligence service headed by General Giovanni Caravelli. Confirming the woman’s claim – namely, an alleged connection between the Almasri case and that of the little Hager girl – are two meetings that took place in early summer at the highest institutional levels; summits in which the woman attended together with her attorney, lawyer Roberto De Vita, in the presence of Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Alfredo Mantovano: “In the Farnesina we learn from advisor Alessio Nardi and Protection Unit head Marco Petacco that my dossier is in the hands of General Caravelli. We suggest a meeting, which to date has not yet taken place. At Palazzo Chigi, adviser Alessandro Monteduro reports to us that my ex-husband would be traced between Libya and the Emirates, and my daughter may be in Oman.” In fact, the Oman one is a false flag denied already a year and a half earlier. The child, for other sources, would be in the Warshafana air. The question is why-in a certainly complex scenario such as Libya, where Italian companies nevertheless continue to operate-Italy has not yet done anything to have her returned.
Court of Treviso, Criminal Sec., Feb. 26, 2025, no. 376
In recent years, stalking has emerged with increasing evidence as a large-scale social phenomenon in Italy, not limited to isolated cases, but widespread and expanding both in public perception and in official statistical data.
In fact, the number of calls to the public utility number 1522[1] (anti-violence and stalking number), requesting help from victims of stalking, has seen a sharp increase: from 897 in 2019[2] to 2115 in 2024[3] and, according to data reported by the State Police in the latest report in March 2025[4], stalking crimes committed in 2024 were 20.289, compared to 19,538 in 2023 and 18671 in 2022, confirming a continuously increasing trend, with victims always predominantly female (consistently around 75%).
As early as 2014, ISTAT, in its latest completed survey[5], estimated that 3,466,000 women, or 16.1 percent of women between the ages of 16 and 70, had experienced persecutory acts by someone in their lifetime, and that among women in the same age group who had an ex-partner, 21.5 percent (or 2,151,000,000) had experienced persecutory behavior by an ex-partner in their lifetime[6].
During the year alone considered in the survey, there were 147,000 victims from ex-partners, while those who had reported stalking from other people 478,000.[7]
These data confirm that stalking – for a long time – has not been a marginal incident, but a structural reality with high numbers and an increasing trend, involving mostly women and finding the ex-partner as the main perpetrator.
The impact on victims’ psychological health and freedom of self-determination makes a broad and effective interpretation of the criminal protection provided by Article 612 bis of the Criminal Code crucial.
And instead, the decision of the Court of Treviso in commentary, excluded the configurability of the crime of persecutory acts even in the face of multiple invasive and intimidating behaviors, going against all the indications, including international ones, now constantly given to Italy regarding the protection of victims of gender violence, confirming the great resistance of the jurisprudence to make that paradigm shift necessary to achieve a system that can guarantee real instruments of protection for victims of violence.
The judgment, in order to acquit the defendant, uses different types of readings that are incompatible with an effective framing of the case:
The court reports–considering them fully proven–the defendant’s very serious conduct toward his former partner, consisting of:
However, he does not believe that they resulted in any appreciable change in the life habits of the offended person, who would continue to frequent the gym, work and family environment, without explicitly reporting that he made changes to avoid possible encounters.
For this reason, the judge acquitted the defendant of the charge under Article 612 bis of the Criminal Code, convicting him of only the crime of bodily injury (Article 582 of the Criminal Code) related to the assault.
The ruling values two logical steps:
The decision would thus seem to hinge on a formalist and restrictive concept of a change in living habits: following the arguments of the trial judge, the crime would be integrated only in the presence of tangible and radical changes (such as changes of domicile, interruption of social activities, change of working hours or places) and not also in the case of invasive conduct that generates latent fear or qualitative limitations in freedom of movement.
The Tribunal’s approach thus raises several concerns.
In fact, the artificial breakdown operated on the totality of conduct and the parceled evaluation of each individual episode risk losing sight of the cumulative persecutory effect: the crime of stalking, on the other hand, is characterized by habitual conduct, which requires a unified and contextual reading.
As for the proof of the event, the judge seems to require an explicit statement from the victim about the change of life that took place; this risks turning the absence of verbalization into “negative evidence,” to the detriment of the assessment, even circumstantial, of anxiety, fear and psychological conditioning resulting from the complex of conduct acted.
The event referred to in Article 612 bis of the Criminal Code, on the other hand, according to the jurisprudence of legitimacy, does not necessarily imply a quantitative material transformation of daily routines, but may consist of qualitative limitations, even implicit and internalized, affecting freedom and self-determination.
And in fact, the Supreme Court over time has made it clear that “on the subject of persecutory acts, for the purposes of identifying the change in lifestyle habits as an integrative element of the crime under Article 612 bis of the Criminal Code, it is necessary to consider the significance and emotional consequences of the coercion on the lifestyle habits to which the victim feels he or she is being forced, and not the purely quantitative assessment of the changes made (Sec. 5, No. 24021 of 04/29/2014, G, Rv. 260580)”[8], that, in addition, the offense exists even if the harassing conduct is interspersed with a long period of time, as long as the unity of the offense and the intimidating effect remain intact[9] and that even the reciprocity of the conduct does not exclude stalking, but only requires a punctual motivation as to the existence of the damaging event in the offended person’s sphere[10].
An elastic and substantive notion of “change” is thus delineated, which takes into account the psychological experience of the victim and does not demand documentary evidence of outward changes.
This approach contrasts with the one adopted by the Treviso court and would allow it to be argued that the persecutory event can be said to be integrated even in the absence of physical displacement or radical organizational changes, when the state of subjection, fear and limitation of freedom of self-determination is proven.
The approach followed by the judge of merit – based on the analytical breakdown of the episodes and the exclusion of relevance of internalized limitations, if not accompanied by tangible external changes – would, thus, stand in contrast to the established orientation of the jurisprudence of legitimacy. The Supreme Court has repeatedly clarified, in fact, that the crime of persecutory acts does not necessarily require a material and visible alteration of the habits of life, since the event may also consist of qualitative, silent and internalized changes, as long as they are capable of affecting the victim’s freedom of self-determination (see Cass. Pen., Sec. V, March 6 – April 16, 2025, no. 15165 and Cass. Pen. Sec. V, Jan. 10 – Feb. 20, 2024).
In the same vein, the Supreme Court has reiterated that the judge’s assessment must concern the unitary whole of conduct and not their atomistic examination (see Cass. Pen., Sec. V, May 2 – August 6, 2024, No. 32081; Cass. Pen., Sec. V, May 8 – 2025, No. 18868; and Cass. Pen., Sec. V, Nov. 22, 2019 – Jan. 27, 2020, No. 3251), recognizing significance to the psychological experience of the offended person.
This pronouncement allows us to measure the distance, still found in the decisions of some judges of merit, between the letter of Article 612 bis of the Criminal Code and its rationale of effective protection of the victims of persecutory conduct, highlighting the risks of an overly restrictive interpretation of the case, which ends up emptying the criminal protection against persecutory conduct of its content.
In fact, the “artifice” of disaggregating the episodes and deeming the change of lifestyle habits unproven in the absence of outward demonstrations can turn into a veritable argumentative loophole, apt to frustrate the ratio legis.
An interpretation of the rule in line with Supreme Court jurisprudence, on the contrary, would require assessing the conduct as a whole and in its impact on the victim’s emotional state and self-determination, recognizing that the alteration of habits also includes silent and internalized qualitative changes that are not visible but equally relevant, and preventing the absence of a formal statement by the victim from becoming negative evidence in favor of the defendant.
In the case at hand, the acquittal of the defendant as to the crime of persecutory acts appears to be an expression of an interpretative orientation that, by favoring the formal and material fact of the “change of life habits,” would end up neglecting the psychological and qualitative component of the injury to the freedom of self-determination, which instead constitutes the core of the incriminating case.
Moreover, the analytical breakdown of individual episodes and the requirement for tangible evidence of a radical outward disruption of daily routines appears to depart from that elaboration of the jurisprudence of legitimacy that has recognized central value in the victim’s subjective experience, valuing the internalized and often silent limitations that are likely to profoundly affect freedom of movement and self-determination.
This interpretative gap risks weakening the preventive and repressive scope of the rule, potentially placing it in conflict with Italy’s international obligations, particularly the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention, Law No. 77/2013[11]).
Art. 49 of the Convention requires states to ensure effective protection of victims against all forms of gender-based violence, including persecutory conduct that impairs personal liberty even in ways that are not immediately visible.
Hence the need for a hermeneutics oriented toward restoring to Article 612 bis of the Criminal Code its substantially protective function, enhancing the unity of the conduct and its overall impact on the life of the offended person, and recognizing that the change in living habits cannot be confined to external changes only (in a rigidly quantitative conception), but also includes those psychological and qualitative changes that harm, often in a subtle and progressive manner, the victim’s freedom of self-determination.
References
[1] 1522, <https://www.1522.eu>
[2] ISTAT, Protection for Women Victims of Violence – Years 2021 and 2022 , <https://www.istat.it/comunicato-stampa/il-sistema-di-protezione-per-le-donne-vittime-di-violenza-anni-2021-e-2022/>
[3] ISTAT, The Public Utility Number 1522 – I Quarter 2025 , <https://www.istat.it/tavole-di-dati/il-numero-di-pubblica-utilita-1522-i-trimestre-2025/>
[4] State Police, <https://www.poliziadistato.it/statics/20/report-8-marzo-giornata-internazionale-della-donna.pdf>
[5] ISTAT, The number of victims and forms of violence, < https://www.istat.it/statistiche-per-temi/focus/violenza-sulle-donne/il-fenomeno/violenza-dentro-e-fuori-la-famiglia/il-numero-delle-vittime-e-le-forme-di-violenza/#:~:text=Lo%20stalking%20è%20stato%20subito,16%2C1%25%20delle%20donne>
[6] ISTAT, Stalking Women, <https://www.istat.it/comunicato-stampa/sicurezza-delle-donne-2006/>
[7] ISTAT, The number of victims and forms of violence, <https://www.istat.it/statistiche-per-temi/focus/violenza-sulle-donne/il-fenomeno/violenza-dentro-e-fuori-la-famiglia/il-numero-delle-vittime-e-le-forme-di-violenza/#:~:text=Lo%20stalking%20è%20stato%20subito,16%2C1%25%20delle%20donne>
[8] Cass. Pen, Sec. V, Jan. 22-March 6, 2018, no. 10111.
[9] See Criminal Cass., Sec. V, Feb. 18-July 7, 2025, No. 24726; Criminal Cass., Sec. V, April 3-May 19, 2025, No. 18774; Criminal Cass., Sec. V, Oct. 10, 2024-Jan. 29, 2025, No. 3808; and Criminal Cass., Sec. V, April 22-Aug. 4, 2021, No. 30525.
[10] Ex multis: Cass. Pen. Sec. V, Nov. 27, 2024 – Mar. 10, 2025, No. 9574 and Cass. Pen, Sec. V, Nov. 12, 2024 – Feb. 4, 2025, no. 4546: “the reciprocity of the harassing behavior does not exclude the configurability of the crime of persecutory acts, incumbent on the judge, however, in siffatta hypothesis, a more accurate burden of motivation regarding the existence of the event of harm, that is, the state of anxiety or fear of the alleged offesa person, his effective fear for his own safety or that of persons close to him or the necessity of the change of living habits.”
[11] <https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2013/07/01/13G00122/sg>
Today, at the Aula Magna of the University of Naples “Parthenope,” Prof. Avv. Roberto De Vita will speak at the CIRPED 2025 National Conference, dedicated to the theme “2000-2025: Educational Con-fines Between Generations. A Jubilee for Education.”
An important opportunity for academic and professional discussion, between different disciplines and expertise, on the new horizons of education, the evolution of the dynamics that characterize intergenerational relationships, and the challenges posed by technological innovation to educational and social processes, in an era characterized by profound and radical transformations.
The event, sponsored by the Italian Center for Pedagogical Research (CIRPED), brings together scholars, researchers and practitioners to reflect, from an interdisciplinary perspective, on the profound changes that have swept through society in the past twenty-five years and the future transitions that are unceasingly emerging, in the quest to redefine educational scenarios.
Lectures by Prof. Avv. Roberto De Vita for the 40th Institute Course of the Carabinieri Officers School, entitled “Digital Evidence in the Criminal Trial,” begin today.
Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a new report today. The Commission urges Israel and all States to fulfil their legal obligations under international law to end the genocide and punish those responsible for it.
The Commission has been investigating the events on and since 7 October 2023 for the last two years, and concluded that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births.
Explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and the pattern of conduct of the Israeli security forces indicate that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group.
“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission. “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.”
“The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons who have orchestrated a genocidal campaign for almost two years now with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza,” Pillay said. “The Commission also finds that Israel has failed to prevent and punish the commission of genocide, through failure to investigate genocidal acts and to prosecute alleged perpetrators.”
The report is based on all the Commission’s prior investigations, as well as factual and legal findings in relation to attacks in Gaza carried out by Israeli forces, and the conduct and statements of Israeli authorities from 7 October 2023 until 31 July 2025. The Commission’s findings are based on a comprehensive examination of the underlying acts of genocide (actus reus) and genocidal intent (dolus specialis).
In establishing the genocidal acts, the Commission examined the Israeli military operations in Gaza, including killing and seriously harming unprecedented numbers of Palestinians; imposing a total siege, including blocking humanitarian aid leading to starvation; systematically destroying the healthcare and education systems in Gaza; committing systematic acts of sexual and gender based violence; directly targeting children; carrying out systematic and widespread attacks on religious and cultural sites; and disregarding the orders of the International Court of Justice.
In establishing genocidal intent, the Commission applied the “only reasonable inference” standard set forth by the International Court of Justice in the case of Bosnia v. Serbia. The Commission analysed statements made by Israeli authorities and concluded that those statements are direct evidence of genocidal intent. The Commission also analysed the pattern of conduct of Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces in Gaza, including imposing starvation and inhumane conditions of life for Palestinians in Gaza, and found that genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference that could be concluded from the nature of their operations.
“Israel has flagrantly disregarded the orders for provisional measures from the International Court of Justice and warnings from Member States, UN offices, human rights organisations and civil society groups, and continued the strategy of destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza,” said Pillay. “The Commission finds that the Israeli authorities had no intention to change their course of actions. On the contrary, Israeli authorities have persisted and continued with their genocidal campaign in Gaza for almost two years now. Israel must immediately end the genocide in Gaza and comply fully with the orders for provisional measures of the International Court of Justice,” she added.
The acts of Israeli political and military leaders are attributable to the State of Israel. The Commission therefore concluded that the State of Israel bears responsibility for the failure to prevent genocide, the commission of genocide and the failure to punish the perpetrators of genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Commission also concluded that Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, have incited the commission of genocide and that Israeli authorities have failed to take action against them to punish this incitement. The Commission has not fully assessed statements by other Israeli political and military leaders and considers that they too should be assessed to determine whether they constitute incitement to commit genocide.
The Commission urges the Government of Israel to comply immediately with its international legal obligations, including to end the genocide in the Gaza Strip and fully implement the provisional measures orders of the International Court of Justice.
Israel must end its policy of starvation, lift the siege and facilitate and ensure the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid at scale and unhindered access of all United Nations staff, including UNRWA and OHCHR international staff, and all recognized international humanitarian agencies delivering and coordinating aid. The Commission calls on Israel to immediately end the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The Commission recommended that Member States cease the transfer of arms and other equipment that may be used for the commission of genocidal acts to Israel; ensure individuals and corporations in their territories and within their jurisdiction are not involved in aiding and assisting the commission of genocide or incitement to commit genocide; and take action on accountability through investigations and legal proceedings against individuals or corporations that are involved in the genocide directly or indirectly.
“The international community cannot stay silent on the genocidal campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza. When clear signs and evidence of genocide emerge, the absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity,” said Pillay. “Every day of inaction costs lives and erodes the credibility of the international community. All States are under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza,” she added.
The issues of (un)proper nutrition and its impact on health, which are increasingly at the center of contemporary debate, are beginning to raise numerous questions about the possible responsibilities-even criminal ones-that can be found on the part of those who hold a position of guarantor with respect to individual food choices.
In particular, the issue becomes even more sensitive where children and adolescents suffer health damage, even in the long term. Parents and educators, on the one hand, and food companies, on the other, are increasingly held accountable for their respective choices and their consequences, including before the Courts.
With regard to the former, the judicial record, especially in the Anglosphere, is crowded with proceedings in which children and young people are removed from the care of their parents and placed in the care of social services because of the condition of obesity found by the courts. In some cases, as was the case with two little brothers in West Sussex (UK) [4], these were also children with good academic performance and excellent education, well integrated in their social context, whose parents, however, had repeatedly demonstrated an inability to manage their children’s diet, which combined intake of “junk food” and low physical activity: thus leading to unhealthy and worrying Body Mass Index values and to the orders of juvenile courts.
At the same time, public awareness and sensitivity to the nutritional components of commonly consumed foods is growing, and the political debate is intensifying-especially in Europe-about which food products should be taxed, discouraged or, conversely, protected. Within this framework, as mentioned and as will be discussed in more detail below, studies and research are increasing that identify a direct link between obesity (and several other diseases) and the consumption of “ultra-processed” foods.
Obesity is assuming epidemic characters worldwide, with alarming values particularly in the younger generation and trend projections that foresee a marked worsening of the phenomenon.
The World Obesity Federation estimates that by 2030, 50% of adults will have a high Body Mass Index (BMI). In fact, 33% of men and 28% of women will be overweight (BMI greater than 25 kg/m²), 12% and 14%, respectively, will be obese (BMI greater than 30 kg/m²), while 5% and 8% will be severely obese (BMI greater than 35 kg/m²) [5] and will have a high risk of developing other noncommunicable diseases that will require medical interventions. Childhood obesity is also growing steadily around the world: according to the 2025 report of the Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing, 464 million young people will be overweight or affected by obesity by 2030, up from 143 million in 2015 [6].
Shifting the magnifying glass to our country, according to the latest data from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, in 2023 19% of children were overweight and 9.8 were obese [7]. Regarding regional variability, higher prevalences are confirmed in the South and the Center than in Northern Italy, with marked differences between the top-ranked, autonomous province of Bolzano (overweight 12%, obese 3.3%) and the last, Campania (overweight 24.6%, obese 18.6%).
Recent decades have also seen a significant increase in obesity rates in developing countries. This phenomenon may appear almost paradoxical, because we are talking about realities that have historically struggled with malnutrition and undernourishment, such as Mexico, India, China, or Thailand. This phenomenon is a concrete example of why obesity is currently considered a global epidemic. In fact, it would be a mistake to consider it as a disease of the individual, but, on the contrary, it is the result of numerous environmental and socio-economic factors, which strongly condition eating habits and lifestyles, leading to its spread with epidemic characteristics.
Economic development and income growth, at the same time, are directly proportional to the number of overweight and obese people. The factors that have led to this condition can be traced mainly to rapid urbanization: this has resulted, particularly for children, in sedentary lifestyles, accompanied by excessive use of electronic devices and television [8] and the gradual departure from normally recommended habits: healthy diet, sleep, physical activity. In addition to this have been the increased availability of ultra-processed foods, the rise of fast food and junk food (increasingly cheap and easily accessible) at the expense of fresh and nutritious foods (increasingly expensive)[9].
Widespread obesity in the population directly results in cardiovascular complications, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, stroke, and increased likelihood of developing various types of cancers. Excess adiposity results among the main risk factors in developing metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, as weight gain results in insulin resistance (insulin is the hormone that regulates blood sugar).
Again, obese patients often go on to experience respiratory and musculoskeletal diseases, nonalcoholic fatty liver, and, something not to be underestimated, psychological and psychiatric issues.
In addition to its direct health effects, obesity also has significant social and economic consequences: the condition is associated with increased work absenteeism, lower benefits, and high health care costs for treatment and long-term care.
The World Obesity Federation predicts that, if prevention and treatment measures are not improved, the global economic impact of overweight and obesity will reach $4.32 trillion annually by 2035. Equal to nearly 3 percent of global GDP, this impact is comparable to that of COVID-19 in 2020 [10].
These costs are directly related to the health care costs of treating obesity-related diseases, and indirectly, the cost is compounded by the loss of work productivity, disability, and premature mortality of obese individuals [11]. In addition, obesity is an important cause of long-term disability, and people with the condition have to live with discrimination and social prejudice on a daily basis [12].
Added to these are the biases that can also be found within courtrooms, where sometimes the weight of defendants and victims is used as a central argument in the assessment of facts. For both defendants and victims, their bodies may be perceived as beyond their control. According to this view, an overweight predator would be unable to restrain himself from committing crimes, just as a particularly corpulent victim would be unable to control his body to defend himself. Moreover, similarly to crime victims who belong to fragile groups, such as children, the elderly or those with mental illness, overweight victims may also be recipients of feelings of pity in courtrooms. However, in the opposite sense, in cases of abuse and violence, overweight women may not be taken seriously because of the stereotype that victims of these crimes are often imagined as thin people [13].
The onset of obesity in the early years of life has a worrisome impact on health, not only because these individuals will most likely remain obese as adults, but also because children/youth often present with metabolic, cardiovascular, respiratory, orthopedic complications, and nutritional deficits.
In essence, a clinical picture similar to that of an adult is found: according to a study conducted by Dr. Valerio Nobili, head of hepato-metabolic pathology at the Bambino Gesù, about 70 percent of overweight or obese children have nonalcoholic hepatic steatosis, an accumulation of fat in liver cells: these children have twice the risk of prediabetic condition and diabetes than healthy children [14].
Hypertension is also a complication that occurs in childhood: on average, the prevalence of this condition in children is 1-2% in normal weight, 5-6% in overweight, and 20-22% in obese [15].
What is more, the onset of obesity in adolescence, may result in alterations in puberty: in females, sexual maturation is anticipated; in fact, early telarche and menarche are observed [16], while in males it is delayed. Thus, the continuous increase in obesity in our society has resulted in spaced sexual maturation between the two sexes.
Hyperandrogenism (excess of androgens) is common in females, resulting in polycystic ovary syndrome, which is associated with altered menstrual cycle, acne, androgenetic alopecia, and marked insulin resistance [17].
In males, there is a high risk of low sperm motility [18], erectile dysfunction, low libido and reduced testosterone concentration, caused precisely by excess adipose[19]. All this results in reduced testicular volume and possible infertility in adulthood.
Three of the main causes of weight gain in adolescents we find incorrect eating habits in the first place. The study on food consumption in Italy, conducted by the CREA (Food and Nutrition Research Center), shows that Italian adolescents are below the intake levels recommended by the LARN (Reference Intake Levels of Nutrients and Energy for the Italian population), with regard to the consumption of vegetable proteins and foods that provide fiber: such as legumes, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. As for fruit, in particular, the average daily consumption among adolescents (146 g/day) and children (139 g/day) is much lower than in adults (194 g/day). As for vegetables, where the average consumption of the population is 147 g/day, it is only 86 g/day for children. In contrast, the tendency is to overconsume proteins and lipids of animal origin (cheese and meat, particularly red and processed meat) and high-glycemic-index carbohydrates, such as fruit juices, boxed breads, refined flours and industrial snacks[20].
According to ISS’s Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, breakfast, considered the most important meal of the day, is eaten by only slightly more than half of young people between the ages of 11 and 17. There is also an excessive daily consumption of carbonated and/or sugary drinks (15 percent) and 1 in 4 adolescents consume sweets at least once a day. At the same time, there are low percentages of fruit and vegetable consumption (even below 30% in some age groups) consistent with the above data [21].
At this point, it is important to introduce the topic of the famous “ultra-processed foods,” around which the public debate of recent years has been raging.
In this regard, the most widely used classification is that of the NOVA system [ 22]], which subdivides foods according to the degree and purpose of industrial processing and includes 4 groups: unprocessed or minimally processed foods; foods processed in the kitchen for the purpose of extending shelf life; processed foods; and, indeed, ultra-processed foods.
Specifically, ultra-processed foods are formulations of ingredients, which are derived from a series of industrial processes (hence the term “ultra-processed”).
These processes include several steps: they may begin with the fractionation of whole foods (such as corn, wheat, soybeans, sugarcane, or beets) into substances that include only sugars, oils and fats, proteins, starches, and fibers; or with the shredding or grinding of animal carcasses, usually from intensive livestock farms. Some of these substances are then subjected to hydrolysis, hydrogenation or other chemical modification.
The next steps involve the assembly of these modified substances, with little, if any, whole foods present, using industrial techniques such as extrusion, molding and pre-frying. Dyes, flavorings, emulsifiers, and other additives are then frequently added to make the final product palatable or hyper-flavored. The processes end with sophisticated packaging, usually made of synthetic materials.
Sugar, oils, fats and salt are often major players in the ingredient list of these foods.
Sugar, in particular, is used in different forms, such as fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, invert sugar, maltodextrin, dextrose, and lactose. At the same time, the oils used are often modified (hydrogenated or interesterified oils).
As for additives, they include flavorings, flavor enhancers, coloring agents, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners, and antifoaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling, and polishing agents. These mask unwanted sensory properties resulting from the ingredients, processes, and packaging used in the production of ultra-processed foods; they also impart sensory characteristics to the final product that are particularly attractive to see, taste, smell, and/or touch[23].
The processes and ingredients used in the production of ultra-processed foods are specifically designed to create highly profitable products: low-cost ingredients with long shelf lives, whether on supermarket shelves or in the home pantry. As a result, they tend to easily replace all other NOVA food groups.
Ultra-processed products, then, are not only the averse packaged snacks or carbonated drinks that we “indulge in once in a while,” but also a number of everyday consumer products that the average consumer would probably never include in this category. A particularly effective example of these products is yogurt.
As a result of highly effective marketing campaigns, contemporary fashion is geared toward “High Protein” products; thus, in this case, yogurts with added protein to make the product, already a protein source in itself, even more protein-packed.
Below are two photos corresponding to the labels and ingredient list of two types of yogurts: one defined as “protein” (photo 1 ) and one “normal” (photo 2).
From reading the values, it is clear that, per 100gr of product, the one labeled as “high protein” has even less protein (9.4 g) than the “normal” one (10.3 g), with an ingredient list worthy of ultra-processed food classification.
By comparing nutrition tables and ingredients from labels, as you just did for yogurt, you can see that many of the products that populate daily cupboards are highly processed.
As analyzed above, obesity is a chronic multifactorial disease, and among the many reasons for its development, in recent years ultra-processed foods have emerged as a major determinant. Indeed, in a small volume of these products, hundreds of kcal are contained, yet they are not of good quality and do not provide useful nutrients to our bodies. On the contrary, the low fiber content and the prevalence of sugars, additives, and saturated fats make these foods precursors to several types of cancers, chief among them colorectal cancer[
[24]. Diets high in UPFs (ultra-processed foods), then, are related to an increased risk of diseases related to immune system dysregulation, such as inflammatory bowel disease (with alteration of the gut microbiota) and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and celiac disease[25]. Finally, some UPFs of animal origin and artificially sweetened beverages are particularly linked to an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes[26].
In any case, it does not seem correct to “demonize” this food group and a priori oppose its consumption, which-if occasional-can be part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle without posing health risks.
What becomes more relevant is the overall diet of the individual, rather than the individual food, food group or single nutrient. The key word in this regard is awareness. Several factors contribute to the development of the latter. First, the marketing choices of large food companies assume an important role in the choices of consumers, who often tend to rely too easily on labels that extol seemingly beneficial features of products: no added sugar, high protein content, no palm oil, etc. The advancement of research and the consolidation of a widespread scientific basis for identifying harmful foods and production processes could force manufacturers to confront the growing risk of liability for injuries, including serious and permanent ones, caused by habitual consumption of products sold as harmless. Conversely, obligations to affix labels warning the purchaser of potential side effects could become more widespread: what is happening, for example, with alcohol products, tobacco derivatives or-increasingly-with unsaturated fats [27].
On the other hand, as far as children are concerned, the role – and responsibility – of parents is central, who will be asked to respond to a standard of care and dietary attention to which they are not yet accustomed – as shown also by Italian data on the nutrition of the youngest. In this regard, it will be essential first and foremost to raise awareness among adults so that they choose to adopt and teach children a healthy eating style from the earliest months of life. In this way, it will be possible to prevent the consolidation of wrong and potentially harmful eating habits in later years.
As noted in one of the court orders above[28], being present and loving parents, in the context of a happy family, is no longer sufficient to meet the health needs of children, especially where the severity of problems resulting from overweight or obesity are not fully understood.
Dr. Maddalena Cotardo, Biologist Nutritionist
Antonio Laudisa, Criminal Attorney
[1] https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R-v-Lloyd-Jones-Titford-sentencing-010323.pdf
[2] https://www.forthepeople.com/sites/default/files/2024-12/Filed%20UPF%20Complaint.pdf
[3] González-Gil, Esther M. et al, Associations between degree of food processing and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a multicenter prospective cohort analysis in 9 European countries
[4] https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWFC/OJ/2020/B62.html
[5] World Obesity Atlas 2025, World Obesity, March 2025, https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wof-files/World_Obesity_Atlas_2025_rev1.pdf
[6] Amouzou, A., Barros, A.J.D., Requejo, J., Faye, C., Akseer, N., Bendavid, E., Blumenberg, C., Borghi, J. , El Baz, S., Federspiel, F., Ferreira, L.Z., Hazel, E., Heft-Neal, S., Hellwig, F., Liu, L., Maïga, A., Munos, M., Pitt, C., Shawar, Y.R., Shiffman, J., et al. (2025). The 2025 report of the Lancet Countdown to 2030 for women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health: tracking progress on health and nutrition. The Lancet 405 (10488) 1505-1554. 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00151-5.
[7] https://www.epicentro.iss.it/okkioallasalute/pdf2024/INFOGRAFICA%20OKKIO%202023_2%20maggio%20DEFINITIVA.pdf
[8] Florida Atlantic University. “Alarming surge: Global crisis of childhood overweight and obesity.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, September 26, 2024. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240926131942.htm.
[9] Monteiro, C.A., Moubarac, J.-.-C., Cannon, G., Ng, S.W. and Popkin, B. (2013), Ultra-processed products: global dominance. Obes Rev, 14: 21-28 . https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12107.
[10] World Obesity, Economic impact of overweight and obesity to surpass $4 trillion by 2035, March 2, 2023, https://www.worldobesity.org/news/economic-impact-of-overweight-and-obesity-to-surpass-4-trillion-by-2035
[11] Bramming M, Jørgensen MB, Christensen AI, Lau CJ, Egan KK, Tolstrup JS. BMI and Labor Market Participation: A Cohort Study of Transitions Between Work, Unemployment, and Sickness Absence. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2019 Oct;27(10):1703-1710. doi: 10.1002/oby.22578. PMID: 31544342.
[12] Nutter S, Russell-Mayhew S, Alberga AS, Arthur N, Kassan A, Lund DE, Sesma-Vazquez M, Williams E. Positioning of Weight Bias: Moving toward Social Justice. J Obes. 2016;2016:3753650. doi: 10.1155/2016/3753650. Epub 2016 Sep 22. PMID: 27747099; PMCID: PMC5055973.
[13] Elizabeth Beety, Valena (2013) “Criminality and Corpulence: Weight Bias in the Courtroom,” Seattle Journal for Social Justice: Vol. 11: Iss. 2, Article 4, https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol11/iss2/4; Tracy Royce, The Shape of Abuse: Fat Oppression as a Form of Violence Against Women, in THE FAT STUDIES READER 151, 153 (Esther Rothblum & Sondra Solovay eds., 2009), https://dokumen.pub/the-fat-studies-reader-9780814777435.html.
[14] Children and diabetes: double the risk if the liver is fatty – Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, https://www.ospedalebambinogesu.it/bambini-e-diabete-rischio-doppio-se-il-fegato-e-grasso-90316/
[15] Simonetta Genovesi, Laura Antolini, Marco Giussani, et al. Hypertension, Prehypertension, and Transient Elevated Blood Pressure in Children: Association With Weight Excess and Waist Circumference, American Journal of Hypertension, Volume 23, Issue 7, July 2010, Pages 756-761, https://doi.org/10.1038/ajh.2010.50.
[16] Itriyeva K. The effects of obesity on the menstrual cycle. Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care. 2022 Aug;52(8):101241. doi: 10.1016/j.cppeds.2022.101241. Epub 2022 Jul 21. PMID: 35871162; PMCID: PMC9449629.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Leisegang K, Sengupta P, Agarwal A, Henkel R. Obesity and male infertility: Mechanisms and management. Andrology. 2021 Feb;53(1):e13617. doi: 10.1111/and.13617. Epub 2020 May 12. PMID: 32399992.
[19] vKhodamoradi, Kajala; Parmar, Madhumitaa; Khosravizadeh, Zahrab; Kuchakulla, Manisha; Manoharan, Meenakkshyc; Arora, Himanshua,d. The role of leptin and obesity on male infertility. Current Opinion in Urology 30(3):p 334-339, May 2020. | DOI: 10.1097/MOU.0000000000000762.
[20] https://www.crea.gov.it/web/alimenti-e-nutrizione/-/iv-scai-studio-sui-consumi-alimentari-in-italia
[21] https://www.epicentro.iss.it/hbsc/pdf/temi2022/abitudini-alimentari-2022.pdf
[22] FAO, Ultra-processed foods, diet quality, and health using the NOVA classification system, https://www.fao.org/fsnforum/resources/trainings-tools-and-databases/ultra-processed-foods-diet-quality-and-health-using-nova
[23] Monteiro CA, Cannon G, Levy RB, Moubarac JC, Louzada ML, Rauber F, Khandpur N, Cediel G, Neri D, Martinez-Steele E, Baraldi LG, Jaime PC. Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutr. 2019 Apr;22(5):936-941. doi: 10.1017/S1368980018003762. Epub 2019 Feb 12. PMID: 30744710; PMCID: PMC10260459.
[24]
Association of ultra-processed food consumption with colorectal cancer risk among men and women: results from three prospective US cohort studies, British Medical Journal, 2022
[25] Maki, K.A., Sack, M.N. & Hall, K.D. Ultra-processed foods: increasing the risk of inflammation and immune dysregulation? Nat Rev Immunol 24, 453-454 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-024-01049-x.
[26] Food consumption by degree of food processing and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: a prospective cohort analysis of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), Dicken, Samuel J. et al, The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, Volume 46, 101043.
[27] https://www.who.int/news/item/07-12-2021-countries-with-regulations-protecting-people-from-industrially-produced-trans-fat-tripled-over-the-past-year
[28] https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWFC/OJ/2020/B62.html
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With more than 1,000 citations among judgments (Italian, supranational and foreign), doctrine and normative references, with a comparative lens, a punctual reflection is walked through, also in the light of the Constitutional Court’s judgment No. 170 of 2023, the “twin” judgments of the United Sections, Nos. 23755 and 23756 of Feb. 29, 2024, and the EU Court of Justice’s ruling of Oct. 4, 2024 (Case C-548/21), up to an initial analysis of the bill on artificial intelligence C. 2316 and the bill on digital forensics C. 1822 (Zanettin-Bongiorno), both under consideration in the House committee since April 2025.
Preface by Giovanni Russo, magistrate, former Deputy National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor, and afterword by Stefano Elli, journalist for Il Sole 24 Ore.
Read the original article on The (b)(7)(D)
By Rob Waldeck and Joe Fionda
A sweeping bribery investigation in Italy involving Elon Musk’s SpaceX may not only entangle the Trump-allied billionaire but also governments on both sides of the Atlantic. The Trump administration has relied heavily on Musk to provide domestic political dynamism through a government efficiency drive that has set off a wave of voter discontent and and spawned dozens of lawsuits. Italian law professor Stefano Maffei told The (b)(7)(D) that the case is in its initial, investigative stage. At this point, Elon Musk has neither been charged nor placed on the Register of Suspects, which Maffei described as a list of those under investigation.
The Italian bribery investigation has led to Musk’s closest Italian associate, SpaceX consultant, Andrea Stroppa, being placed under investigation for involvement in corruption related to a SpaceX contract. On 11 October 2024, the Italian police closed in on Stroppa, seized his devices, and placed him on the Register of Suspects for complicity in corruption. Maffei told The (b)(7)(d) that being placed on the Register of Suspects is preliminary to being indicted.
According to case documents quoted by Italian state broadcaster RAI, and Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, Stroppa is alleged to have exchanged inside information on SpaceX’s offer to provide secure Starlink communications to the Italian military, police, and diplomatic services for subcontracts from SpaceX. Recent reporting in Il Fatto Quotidiano, revealed that Italian prosecutors are seeking communications between Stroppa and Musk to determine if Musk directed Stroppa or had any advance knowledge of his activities.
The affair may also complicate the work of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump’s new executive order regarding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, directs the Attorney General to decide to move forward or discontinue all current or potential foreign bribery cases involving U.S. companies, placing any Musk FCPA case squarely in front of Bondi. Legal experts told The (b)(7)(D) that the conduct alleged by Italian authorities could create FCPA liability for individuals at SpaceX, including Musk.
Prosecutors allege that Rossi and Rufini had a second inside man: Italian Navy Frigate Captain Antonio Masala of the Italian Defense General Staff. Rossi, prosecutors claim, worked with Masala to rig a bid in January 2024. Masala was allegedly paid for his inside role via €1,000,000 in false invoices. Prosecutor’s noted that Masala’s wife also owned 4.8% of the stock of Olidata.
Italian prosecutors allege that beginning in April 2024, Rufini and Masala sought to obtain subcontracts as part of a secret €1.5 billion ($1.55 billion) SpaceX proposal to provide Starlink secure satellite communications for Italy’s military, police, and embassies. According to Italian state broadcaster RAI and the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, Masala approached SpaceX consultant Andrea Stroppa, who was described in court documents and multiple press reports as “Musk’s man in Italy.” Investigators allege Masala offered Stroppa inside information on the Italian government’s deliberations regarding the SpaceX proposal in exchange for a promise to name Olidata and a second company, Vipa Impianti S.r.L. as subcontractors for SpaceX. Prosecutors further claim that Masala passed Stroppa four government documents and inside information from meetings of the Italian Military Cabinet and the Ministry of Defense about the SpaceX proposal.
Masala also arranged a meeting for Stroppa in June 2024 with his commander, Lt. General Giovanni Gagliano. Gagliano, however, was suspicious of Masala’s efforts to push the Starlink case. Masala was caught on telephone intercepts discussing Gaglino’s suspicions of his advocacy for Starlink.
According to investigators, on 29 August 2024, Masala attended a meeting where he obtained a copy of a confidential Italian Foreign Ministry document regarding the evaluataion of the Starlink proposal. Prosecutors claim Masala then passed the document to Stroppa, who told allegedly told him there were 40 people waiting to review it.
Professor Maffei told The (b)(7)(D) that the charges were preliminary, and suspects would only be formally charged with a crime if the prosecution later requested indictments. Maffei explained that in Italy, the prosecution of crimes falls under the judicial branch of government. Placing Stroppa on the list of suspects, Maffei told The (b)(7)(D), allowed police to seek the warrants to obtain his phones and electronic devices.
Stroppa could not be reached for comment. A lawyer for Iorio declined to comment toThe (b)(7)(D). A lawyer for Rossi did not reply to a request for comment from The (b)(7)(D).
A lawyer for Rufini, Roberto De Vita, said: “The so-called ‘Starlink file’ to date has not led to the identification of any evidence of incorrect conduct in relations with the companies of Elon Musk or Mr. Cristiano Rufini and Olidata … the professional, personal and as president of the company behavior of Mr. Rufini and his actions in institutional relations have always been characterized by transparency and fairness.”
Law Professor Mike Koehler spoke with The (b)(7)(D) about how the Starlink bribery investigation could involve U.S. law. Koehler is an expert on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, who explained that it is a federal crime for a U.S. company or individual to bribe a foreign official. Professor Koehler said that the SpaceX bribery allegations “could perhaps be an FCPA issue” because, SpaceX is a U.S. company, and Musk is a U.S. citizen, making SpaceX and Elon Musk “clearly subject” to the FCPA. Professor Koehler further explained that companies like SpaceX, cannot use indirect means to provide things of value to foreign officials to influence actions on their behalf.
Koehler added that for executives of U.S. companies like SpaceX, prosecutors would only need to show “conscious disregard” for the possibility that illegal exchanges with government officials were occurring. Prosecutors would not need to prove that Starlink officials directly ordered bribes to be paid. Koehler said that the key question is were any executives “aware or were willfully blind or acted with conscious disregard of the alleged conduct.”
The FCPA includes a statutory defense section that states if an action is legal in the foreign country where the alleged acts occurred, it is a defense to FCPA charges. However, when asked about this possible defense under U.S. law, Professor Maffei told The (b)(7)(D) that if Masala had turned over a confidential document to Stroppa, his actions would be illegal under Italian law. Maffei explained that Masala, as a public officer acting in his official capacity, revealed information he was forbidden from discussing.
Due to recent developments, any U.S.-led investigation of Stroppa, SpaceX or Musk for the alleged Starlink bribery scheme in Italy is now entirely in the hands of Trump’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi. Shortly after taking office, On 5 February, Bondi issued a memorandum on criminal prosecutions, altering the priorities of the DOJ’s criminal division to “total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations.” The Bondi memorandum directed Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prosecutors to prioritize cases that involve bribery of foreign officials that facilitate “the criminal operations of Cartels and TCOs, and shift focus away from investigations and cases that do not involve such a connection.”
Days later, President Trump issued an executive order empowering Bondi to end, limit, or refuse to initiate all FCPA investigations. This would include any potential or current investigation of the allegations facing Stroppa for his work on behalf of SpaceX. Trump’s new executive order sharply limited FCPA enforcement and instituted a policy of “enforcement discretion,” placing the decision to continue any current FCPA case squarely in the hands of the Attorney General. Trump’s new executive order sharply limited FCPA enforcement and instituted a policy of “enforcement discretion,” placing the decision to continue any current FCPA case squarely in the hands of the Attorney General. The order imposed a 180-day moratorium on initiating FCPA investigations or enforcement actions “unless the Attorney General determines that an individual exception should be made.” The policy of enforcement discretion extended to current cases, authorizing Bondi to “review in detail all existing FCPA investigations or enforcement actions and take appropriate action with respect to such matters to restore proper bounds on FCPA enforcement and preserve Presidential foreign policy prerogatives.”
The Trump order requires Bondi to issue “updated guidelines or policies” to align FCPA enforcement with Trump’s foreign policy. All FCPA cases “initiated or continued” after the revised guidelines or policies are issued, “must be specifically authorized by the Attorney General.” This policy effectively places enforcement of every FCPA case into the hands of a political appointee, Pam Bondi, including ones involving Musk-owned companies.
Professor Koehler cautioned that Trump’s long-standing opposition to the FCPA was well-known and shared by some Democrats, including Senator Amy Klobuchar.
In many ways, the 31-year-old Stroppa resembles the group of young programmers Musk has surrounded himself with at DOGE. As a teenager, Stroppa was arrested for participating in computer attacks carried out by Anonymous Italia. However, the 17-year-old Stroppa received a judicial pardon.
Later, as a social media and security researcher, Stroppa and a colleague uncovered large numbers of fake followers and bots on Twitter, the predecessor to Musk’s X. In an interview, Stroppa told Il Foglio that he wrote to Musk to thank him after the billionaire began citing his research on social media. Musk soon followed Stroppa on Twitter. Stroppa recounted to Il Foglio that one day his phone rang with a call from an unknown U.S. number. It was Musk, who simply said “Hi, I’m Elon.”
In the Il Foglio interview Stroppa said he is friends with the billionaire. However, Stroppa is more than a friend to Musk—Stroppa also began working for Twitter in 2022, focusing on combating child pornography after Musk bought the acquired the platform. Stroppa told Il Foglio that he now works as “an advisor for SpaceX and Starlink.” Other news reports described Stroppa as a SpaceX employee based in Rome.
Stroppa described his role at Starlink to Il Foglio: “I study projects. I talk to technicians. I talk to companies, I explain how Musk’s products work and why those companies should become Starlink customers,” a group which included “Italian institutions and the state.”
In 2023 Stroppa suggested to Elon Musk that he visit Italy and arranged the billionaire’s June 2023 meeting with Prime Minister Meloni. Stroppa also accompanied Musk to Atreju, the gathering of the Fratelli d’Italia party presided over by Meloni in December 2023. A photo captured Stroppa seated with Musk and Meloni at the event.
Stroppa has been well rewarded by Musk. An unsealed June 2023 filing in a U.S. court case identifies Andrea Stroppa as one of only 100 owners of X Holdings Corp., the parent company of X.
Starlink’s fortunes in Italy appear closely tied to Musk’s relationship with Meloni. On 23 September, Musk presented the Italian Prime Minister with the Atlantic Council’s Global Citizen Award in New York. Musk described Meloni as “someone who is even more beautiful inside than outside.” Meloni referred to Musk as a “precious genius.”
On 7 December 2024, Trump and Musk met with Meloni on the sidelines of a dinner in Paris hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron to celebrate the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. The next day Trump told the New York Post that Meloni “was great” and “had a lot of energy.”
Press reports indicate that Musk’s SpaceX first approached the Meloni government in the fall of 2023 about selling encrypted Starlink communications to the Italian government. Just days before Musk attended the December 2023 Atreju party with Stroppa and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, SpaceX representatives made a presentation to the Meloni government at Chigi Palace, the Italian Prime Minister’s official residence. The contract proposal remained secret until the Sogei case broke into the press in mid-October 2024.
A second, larger, contract proposal involved Starlink providing public satellite broadband internet to areas in Italy where fiber optic cable companies had not yet reached. The €2.5 billion contract would be funded through European Union COVID recovery funds. The Meloni government’s proposed Space Bill included a provisionauthorizing the allocation of government funds to satellite internet providers.
Professor Maffei told The (b)(7)(D) that Italy was making significant efforts to attract EU COVID recovery funds and that “there were a lot of “middle-men with big money in Italy” attempting to secure the funds.
Since the exposure of Stroppa’s connection to the Sogei scandal, the election of Donald Trump, and the rise of Musk’s DOGE, the Meloni government’s enthusiasm for Starlink communications has somewhat diminished. In December, Meloni told the press that Starlink was under consideration for the secure communications contract but denied negotiating with Musk directly. In January, Musk announced that he was ready to provide satellite services to the Italian government.
But Musk’s alliance with Trump, coupled with Trump’s favoring of Russia in the Ukraine conflict, appears to have derailed Musk’s pursuit of billions in Italian government funds. In recent weeks, the Meloni government has begun to distance itself from the Starlink broadband proposal. On 19 February, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso informed the Italian Chamber of Deputies that the Meloni government was developing a proposal for an Italian low-orbit communications network in collaboration with Italian companies.
Among those strongly opposed to allowing a foreign corporation to control the secret communications of the Italian state is Italian President Sergio Mattarella, according to reporting from Bloomberg News.
Nevertheless, on 6 March, the Italian Parliament rejected an amendment to the Space Bill proposed by the opposition Partito Democratico which would have required the Italian government to use European and Italian satellite companies to provide Italy with secure communications. After Stroppa posted on X that Matarella was blocking the deal, Musk responded to his man in Italy by saying that he would be honored to meetwith the Italian President. Matarella had no comment as of Monday.
As the stories about Stroppa and his relationship to Musk proliferated in the Italian press, Stroppa took to X to rally support. On 17 October 2024, at 5:02 a.m. Eastern Time, Stroppa posted a Lord of The Rings meme with the caption, “Never give up.” One minute later, Musk replied, “Never.
Prof. Avv. Roberto De Vita will participate today in the conference “The criminal evolution of the ‘ndrangheta. What future scenarios? “, organized by the Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis, during which the book“The Criminal Power of the ‘ndrangheta,” by Fabio Iadeluca, will be presented.
The event will be introduced by addresses of greetings from Hon. Mariano Angelucci, President of the Commission for Tourism, Fashion and International Relations of Roma Capitale, Dr. Maurizio Block, Military Attorney General at the Court of Cassation and Fr. Stefano Cecchin OFM, President of the Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis at the Holy See.
Prof. Fabio Iadeluca, Coordinator of Departments at the Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis, Dr. Marisa Manzini, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Catanzaro Court of Appeals, Dr. Francesco Ferrara, State Advocate, and Prof. Fr. Gian Matteo Roggio, Director of Departments at the Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis, will speak.
Moderating the meeting will be Dr. Luciano Regolo, co-director of Famiglia Cristiana and lecturer at the Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis.
Watch the video of the Conference here.
“Crimes against the Public Administration, anti-corruption legislation and control systems in the EU and Italy“:…
“Crimes against the Public Administration, anti-corruption legislation and control systems in the EU and Italy“:…