Meloni is in favour of the law on action against Russian bots. Calenda speaks out

Rome. A bill to combat hybrid warfare, propaganda and the manipulation of information by authoritarian regimes, and to fill the regulatory gap regarding foreign interference: it is called the ‘democratic shield’ – the same name as a similar initiative taken at EU level – and bears the signature of Azione (Senator Marco Lombardo and leader Carlo Calenda). After a year of deadlock, the bill is set to be tabled early next week in the Senate’s Constitutional Affairs Committee. The latest development is that the rapporteur could be the Commission’s chairman, Andrea De Priamo (a Meloni supporter), with Lombardo acting as co-rapporteur. This is why Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, last Wednesday in Parliament on the eve of the Council of Europe, thanked Azione for the proposal. How does the shield work, we ask Calenda? “Through preventive action against interference,” says the former minister, “but also through response mechanisms and the adoption of countermeasures, with the establishment of a public-private analysis committee that informs DIS and AGCOM of any threats detected, to ensure the transparency and integrity of the electoral process and the transparency of funding.” Should the democratic process come under threat, the bill provides for Parliament to be convened in a joint session and, in extreme cases, for the vote to be suspended. Bots are in the firing line, in the sense that the law aims to equip itself with investigative tools to understand, says Calenda, “where the fake profiles supporting the various political groups come from”. The issue is at the forefront of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, so much so that, a few days ago, news spread – though later partially downplayed – that the Ukrainian bombing of the three Yandex data centres in Russia had led to a sharp drop in interference. The government has, in the meantime, taken action through Copasir, and Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano will be among the first to be heard by the Committee once the proposal has been tabled. Given that Europe is moving in the same direction, how can Italy exert pressure to ensure the ‘antidote’ becomes operational? “Pina Picierno has been working on this through Renew Europe,” says Calenda, “to put pressure on the United States following the new restrictions on Starlink services used by Ukrainian forces – a decision that has caused connectivity losses and disruptions to military missions. Satellite communications are essential for the defence of Kyiv, at a time when terrestrial networks are damaged or destroyed. Without satellite communications, it becomes a war of attrition.” As for the ‘democratic shield’, says the leader of Azione, “whilst it is true that the EU Commission has taken action, it is also true that the process of launching it and applying it at European level is not a short one. We, on the other hand, would like it to be operational before the general election, hence the draft bill’. One wonders: what about the other parties? Are they not concerned about interference? “Today, given the Vannacci case, people are beginning to take an interest in this issue. But for years we have been on our own, and we have been fighting this battle since 2016: indeed, even during Matteo Renzi’s referendum campaign, Russia was exerting its influence. The same goes for Brexit.” Has it become easier for a party or a government to realise they are ‘victims’ of this type of hybrid attack? “You only have to look at the profiles reposting Vannacci’s content. In any case, Western intelligence services now have every means of verifying where the bots come from, including through automated artificial intelligence systems, so all the tools exist to identify and make public the fact that, for example, 50 per cent of Vannacci’s reposts come from Russian bot farms. This is foreign interference, and it is very important and a priority that citizens are aware of this.”