italy

Facebook might face curbs in Italy after a recent attack on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Members of Berlusconi’s coalition have squarely laid the blamed Facebook for inciting the general public, that eventually led to the attack that left the Italian premier with a bloodied face.

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni is said to have been considering tougher limits on freedom of expression and has planned to crack down on social networking sites that have been inciting violence against against Berlusconi. Although Facebo ok’s name was not officially mentioned, many in the know – believe that the minister was talking about Facebook.

Berlusconi’s family media empire controls most of the sources of news and information in Italy. The group owns one of the two major Italian news magazines, two daily newspapers, and three of the seven major TV channels. Three other major channels in Italy are run by the Italian government, and hence also bows to Berlusconi.

Berlusconi has recently tried to limit the freedom of few of the handful independent newspapers by bringing lawsuits against them for reporting on his extramarital affairs and allegations of indulging with call girls – as young as his grand daughter.

Social Networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are not just avenues of social interaction, but have become playgrounds for expressing political expression, rallying around social and welfare causes and other social issues. Massimo Tartaglia, the person who threw a statuette at Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has become a Facebook sensation overnight.

Tartaglia who threw a replica of Milan’s cathedral  is being held overnight by Milan police and has been charged with grievous bodily harm. The attack that left Berlusconi with a bloodied face, has received uniform condemnation from Italian press.

However the fact that Tartaglia, is held in custody and has received immense bad press, has not stopped him from becoming an instant Facebook celebrity. Italian’s from around the world are flocking to Massimo Tartaglia’s Facebook fan page like crazy. As of this moment, the page has more than 50,000 fans, not bad for a page created less than 24 hours back. The page now has more than 100 photos and 500 links of stories related to the event, and is buzzing with comments and discussions.

This sudden outburst of people’s emotions on Facebook is yet, another event showing the power of Social outlets. So while main stream media could decide not to cover and report on popular public sentiments, public emotions and feelings could very easily find avenues of expression at social sites like Facebook.

I am very pleased to announce that all our efforts in creating a tech scene in Rome and more generally in Italy are coming through. On Monday, November 23rd we will be hosting our first event, in collaboration with a few roman startups: Publisoftweb, Ibrii, Frestyl and other coolgeeks.