On 9 and 10 March, the European consortium Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) is organising an advocacy mission to Rome, to assess the main developments affecting press and media freedom in the country and to urge the implementation of crucial reforms.

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners will conduct an advocacy mission to Rome, Italy, on 9–10 March 2026 to assess key developments affecting press and media freedom in the country and push for implementation of crucial reforms.

The mission will focus on four main themes: the reform of the public broadcaster RAI and its compliance with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA); the transposition of the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive and broader defamation reform; digital threats and the use of surveillance against journalists; and media market concentration and its compatibility with the EMFA.

The decision to return to Italy two years after the MFRR’s urgent mission to Rome in May 2024 reflects great concerns with the implementation of EMFA and findings from the MFRR’s latest monitoring report, which documented 118 press freedom violations in Italy in 2025. These cases included physical attacks, legal harassment, major spyware cases, and an attempted assassination of prominent journalist Sigfrido Ranucci. These developments point to ongoing structural threats to journalists’ safety, editorial independence, and media pluralism in Italy.

The delegation will engage with institutional and political actors, as well as with representatives of the leadership of RAI, media experts, journalists’ organisations, and media professionals. As in all MFRR country missions, the consortium has requested meetings with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure a balanced and comprehensive assessment of the situation on the ground.

The 2024 mission report, Silencing the Fourth Estate: Italy’s democratic drift, outlined a series of recommendations to address concerns regarding political interference in RAI, legal harassment of journalists and other threats to media pluralism. The March 2026 mission will assess developments since then and continue dialogue with national stakeholders.

The mission led by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and will be carried out with partners of the MFRR consortium: ARTICLE 19 Europe, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the International Press Institute (IPI), and Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT).

The delegation will work in coordination with local partners Amnesty International Italia, the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI), the Consiglio Nazionale Ordine dei Giornalisti (OdG), and the Unione Sindacale Giornalisti Rai (Usigrai).

A press conference will be held on the morning of 10 March at the premises of the Consiglio Nazionale Ordine dei Giornalisti, Via Sommacampagna 19, Rome, to present the preliminary findings of the mission.

The MFRR is a consortium of organisations committed to protecting media freedom across Europe. Through monitoring, support, advocacy, and country missions, the MFRR works to ensure a safer and more independent environment for journalists and media professionals. Further information about the mission and its outcomes will be published in the coming weeks.