Meloni: The ‘anti-fascist’ label at ‘Più libri più liberi’ is censorship

The decision by the organisers of Più libri più liberi, the National Fair for Small and Medium-sized Publishers promoted by the Italian Publishers Association (AIE), to introduce a requirement for exhibiting publishing houses to sign a self-certification of anti-fascism in order to participate in the 25th edition, scheduled to take place in Rome from to December.

‘This is how the Left conceives of freedom of thought: you are free, but only if you say what they allow you to say, if you think what they think, if you read what they deem appropriate. The suppression of non-left-wing ideas, disguised as an anti-fascist struggle, is an old habit of the left, but it is a story that nobody believes anymore. It is, quite simply, called censorship. And censorship is incompatible with any democratic society,” wrote Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in X.

Meloni’s remarks have been criticised by the leader of the Five Star Movement Giuseppe Conte: ‘Nothing to say or do about the corruption investigation into the Strait Bridge, with its failed projects and 13.5 billion euros tied up – money that could be put to good use for infrastructure, schools and healthcare. Reforms on justice and healthcare have failed, been withdrawn or rejected by the public,” says the former prime minister, “while queues are getting out of hand in both courts and hospitals. International summits vital to our interests see Italia’s seat remain empty because she prefers to present a stamp or is excluded. And so Meloni falls back on the tried and tested: a surreal Sunday row over the book fair and anti-fascism. Quite rightly, in addition to her obsession with me, she is now obsessed with Vannacci, which is growing thanks to her failures and betrayals. A small question: but when does she deal with Italia, the cost of living and businesses closing down? Four years, zero reforms.”

According to the leader of Futuro Nazionale Roberto Vannacci, Meloni “is absolutely right” to describe the ‘anti-fascist’ label given to Più liberi più libri as censorship, “because in a country where freedom of expression is enshrined in the Constitution, this freedom of expression must not be subject to any kind of label, be it anti-fascist or anti-whatever”.

The application form for the small publishers’ fair requires publishers to self-certify their adherence to the constitutional values of the Italian Republic, rejects fascist ideology and any form of totalitarianism, and undertakes not to display or sell materials that glorify fascism or incite hatred and discrimination, on pain of immediate exclusion from the fair. Unless these clauses have been ‘ticked off’, the computer system blocks the submission of the application, preventing the purchase of exhibition space from being completed.