Forget the role of prime minister. “Giorgia” is always the same, at least during election campaign periods: a politician who represents only one part of the country and who sends messages against another. Even stretching the boundaries of the law that imposes electoral silence. Shortly before the stroke of midnight between Friday 7 and Saturday 8 June, the day the polls opened, Meloni released a video from the greengrocer on social media. In Roman dialect, he addresses the shopkeeper: «Oh Daniè, don’t say anything that we are in the election campaign». Then he grabs a cherry, starts chewing it and, still with his mouth full, says: «Yummy, what variety is it?». The greengrocer continues the play by turning over a card planted in the basket, which reads: «Variety Giorgia». A little scene that seems like it spin off of the video published close to the vote on September 25, 2022, when the leader of the Brothers of Italy showed herself to her followers holding two melons in her hand.
“Beautiful!”
It is Meloni herself who makes fun of the electoral silence, inviting the greengrocer/actor not to say anything. The Prime Minister actually acted according to the law, publishing a few moments before midnight. She and her staff, however, could not help but be aware that the video would be viewed by most followers on June 8: a permissible, but somewhat unscrupulous move. Meanwhile, the group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the Senate, Lucio Malan, decided to comment on the video on the morning of 8 June, in full electoral silence: «Beautiful! The funniest thing will be the long faces of left-wing bigots who will say: “A political leader doesn’t do these things”. And it is the main tenor of the reactions posted by Meloni’s followers on Instagram.
Among those with the most I like, we read: «I can already imagine the hysterical reaction of the leftists», or, «every time you make these videos the people’s livers explode!». To tell the truth, the core of the supporters of the account of the tenant of Palazzo Chigi – at least among those who comment – once again appear to come from India. Even the opponents rake in hundreds like, writing: «Institutionally embarrassing», or, «the beauty of the comments in the appendix to this video is that they are not dedicated to the lack of institutionality on the part of a Prime Minister, but to how the claims should gnaw. For what, exactly?
The law on electoral silence
Meloni is not the only politician who, taking advantage of a failure to update the law on electoral silence, exploits the exploits of social media to launch messages which, however, cannot be published on TV, radio or newspapers. The same rule prevents the organization of rallies, the posting of posters and propaganda near the polling stations. In short, the electoral campaign should stop starting 24 hours before the polls open, under penalty of a fine ranging from 100 euros to imprisonment for one year. In these elections, with voting exceptionally starting on Saturday, the start of silence has been set at 11.59pm on Friday 7 June.
Law 212 of 1956, however, has never been updated to take the internet into account, effectively excluding the internet from the propaganda ban. And in any case the law has always shown, in its application, decidedly loose rules: for example, journalists and photographers usually follow politicians to the polls and, on the sidelines, ask for declarations which often lead to political commentary. Imagine if on the occasion of these European elections, politicians will desist from online propaganda, following the indications of Agcom: the Communications Regulatory Authority, for the occasion, has released a note in which it states that the electoral silence “extends to all electoral propaganda activities, direct and indirect, even if conveyed on online platforms”.
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