Italy

Italy is a Southern European country. It is a parliamentary democracy and a member of the European Union.

Censorship was pervasive during the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini (1922-1945).

Books censorship

Under the Benito Mussolini regime the children's novel The Story of Ferdinand was banned because the story of a bull who doesn't want to partake in bullfighting was considered to be pacifist/communist brainwashing.

TV censorship

TV shows

• Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy was banned in Italy by request of Amanda Knox's on the belief that it had the potential to taint Knox's appeals. It certainly might have helped Knox get back home to Seattle several months after the trial. However, the movie managed to be aired in Italy in December 2012.
• Report - This journalism TV show had its funds for legal assistance cut from RAI due to tackling sensitive issues in the past that exposed the journalists to legal action (for example the authorization of buildings that did not meet earthquake-resistance specifications, cases of overwhelming bureaucracy, the slow process of justice, prostitution, health care scandals, bankrupt bankers secretly owning multimillion-dollar paintings, waste mismanagement involving dioxane toxic waste, cancers caused by asbestos anti-fire shieldings (Eternit) and environmental pollution caused by a coal power station near the city of Taranto). This, combined with many lawsuits against the journalists in the absence of the funds to handle them could bring the program to an end.
• RAIot - Armi di distrazione di massa - this satirical TV show was banned in November 2003 after comedian Sabrina Guzzanti made outspoken criticism of Berlusconi media empire
• Le Iene - This comedy/satire journalism show had one episode banned due to a report showing use of cocaine in the Italian Parliament.

Western animation

• South Park: the episode "Cartman Joins NAMBLA", was banned for references to homosexual pedophilia and infanticide. The "Do The Handicapped Go to Hell?"-"Probably" two-parter was pulled for mocking and asking too many questions about the Catholic faith. Years later, the season 23 episode "Christmas Snow" was banned for depicting Jesus smoking weed. Besides these instances, the show was censored in Italia 1, through a dub which translated the dialogues not literally (due to the presence of swearwords), allegedly due to the pressure of the infamous Christian lobby group Moige (Movimento Italiano Genitori, Italian Parents Movement), which brought the broadcaster to ditch the series after Season 4. However, since 2007 it was broadcast uncensored by the Italian feed of Comedy Central.
• Batman Beyond - In Italy, this animated series had a slight change in the dialogues, with a notable example being the Society of Assassins (''Lega degli Assassini'') renamed as "Society of Criminals" (''Lega dei Criminali'').
• Family Guy -when aired on Italia 1, the show suffered some censorship. For instance, in the episode "Baby Not on Board", when the Griffins visit Ground Zero, the line where Peter asks if it was the "place where the first guy got AIDS" had the reference changed to H1N1. However, when broadcasted on the Italian feed of FOX, the dialog censorship was not present.

Anime

The first anime series to air in Italy on private networks had almost to none censorship, even if these had vaguely erotic scenes such as The Rose of Versailles and Lady Georgie (which were cut during both series' reruns), while in the public access television, only some scenes which were deemed too much violent in mecha and science fiction anime.

• Alpen Rose - a shoujo anime set in WWII, was the first anime to be systematically censored in Italy in 1985-1986, in order to remove the references to the war as well to the Nazis.
• Nobara no Julie (Julie the Wild Rose) - this anime set after WWI about Julie, an Austrian orphan girl who fled from Tyrol, had all the references to Italy removed, as the aircraft which killed the protagonist's parents was Italian.

Movies censorship

• Duck Soup was banned under the government of Benito Mussolini for poking fun at dictators and war.
• La Grande Ilusion was banned under the government of Benito Mussolini for its anti-war message.
• Lion of the Desert, a Gaddafi-funded Libyan movie about the Italian colonial regime, has been banned in Italy since 1982, as it was deemed as harmful to the honor of the Italian Armed Forces. However, in 2009 the movie was aired in Sky on satellite TV on 11 June 2009, a day after the visit of Muammar Gaddafi at the Rome Airport.
• Totò and Carolina was banned on its initial release for poking fun at the police.
• Jules and Jim was initially for its sexual attitudes, but the ban was lifted after protest.
• Last Tango in Paris was banned from 1976 until 1987, due to its controversial sexual content. On 29 January 1976, the movie was even subject to public bonfire before its rehabilitation in 1987.
• Freaks was banned on its initial release.
• Cannibal Holocaust was banned on its initial release.
• The Devils was banned in Italy was banned due to blasphemous content.
• Li chiamarono... briganti! was banned after its release in 1999 possibly for being critical of the Italian unification.
• Videocracy was refused airing as it says the spots are an offense to then-Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

In 2021, Italy ended its film censorship bureau, unbanning all formerly banned films, and leaving it up to theaters to decide what to screen.

Internet censorship

• On 22 January 2021, the Italian Data Protection Authority has ordered to blocking TikTokers whose age is not established, this was ordered when a 10 year-old Sicilian girl had choked to her death on a belt around the neck. The block is set to remain in place until 15 February, when it will be re-evaluated.
• Since 2012, access to Stormfront has been blocked.

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