Journalist Fined 5000 Euros For Mocking Italian PM Meloni's Height

A court in Italy has fined a journalist for mocking Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's height on social media. The court has ordered Giulia Cortese, a journalist based in Milan, to pay PM Giorgia Meloni damages of 5,000 euros. According to a BBC report, the judge ruled that two tweets by the journalist were defamatory and amounted to "body shaming."

Giulia Cortese reportedly made the jibe in October 2021, a year before Giorgia's Meloni’s coalition government came to power. The dispute between the journalist and the Italian leader started when Cortese posted an image on X depicting the Italian PM in front of a framed photograph of Benito Mussolini. On that occasion, the Italian PM said that the "falsified photo is of unique gravity" and that she would be taking legal action. According to the report, Cortese later said she had deleted the image. However, the journalist accused Meloni of creating a "media pillory" against her.

"You don't scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you're only 1.2m [3ft 9in] tall. I can't even see you," Giulia Cortese wrote in a post on X, as quoted by the BBC. It is to be noted that Giorgia Meloni's height is reported in Italian media to be 5ft 3in. Cortese was convicted over these social media posts. At the same time, Cortese responded to the verdict and said that the government has a "serious problem with freedom of expression." The country has dropped five slots to 46th in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index this year.