Italy: Prime Minister Berlusconi Attempts to "Regulate Internet"

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants to push for an agreement to regulate the internet through the G8.

The G8 is actually the Group of Eight, which is a forum for governments of eight nations from the north hemisphere, including Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.A. The group discusses issues of mutual or global concern, and it is through this that Berlusconi hopes to use his country's position in the G8 to push for international coercion on internet regulation.

The main issue at hand is that this is an inherent conflict of interest because Silvio Berlusconi is not only Italy's senior G8 leader, the Prime Minister and Italy's richest man, but also the main controller of Italy's media, owning (both directly and indirectly) 90% of Italian media.

According to La Stampa, attempts at internet regulation will be protested by bloggers who will display anti-Berlusconi banners on their blogs and websites. Berlusconi's attempts to get other countries to follow in internet regulation are a direct violation of the protection of freedom of speech, as well as various other press freedom indices.

- Jamie Bezozo
Country: Italy