Italian authorities have launched an investigation into 86 social media accounts linked to a wave of defamatory attacks against Senator for Life Liliana Segre, a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor and prominent moral figure in the country.
Sixteen individuals have already been formally charged in connection with the abuse.
The insults emerged following Segre’s participation in a Liberation Day ceremony on 25 April in Pesaro, where she honoured the memory of those who resisted fascism. Some online posts went as far as labelling her “the most Nazi of all” and “a parasite living off the work of others”, with others urging her to “go away” and claiming “the Italian people do not want you”.
In a resolution reported by Italian media, Milan investigating judge Alberto Carboni ordered prosecutors to proceed with identifying the perpetrators behind the offensive remarks. The decision also calls for ongoing scrutiny of the 86 accounts involved and upholds the legal proceedings initiated at Senator Segre’s request.
In addition to the 16 individuals already charged, the judge authorised the prosecution of nine further suspects who had not previously been investigated. Seven individuals whose cases had initially been recommended for closure by the prosecution will also face charges.
Judge Carboni stressed in his ruling that accusing a Holocaust survivor of Nazism constitutes defamation and a blatant distortion of historical truth. He described such remarks as “among the most disgraceful attacks” against Segre’s integrity. The senator, who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp as a teenager, has spent decades educating future generations about the atrocities of the Nazi regime and promoting remembrance of the Holocaust.
Carboni also underlined that “the internet is not a lawless zone”, affirming that neither a computer screen nor a keyboard should be seen as tools for impunity. “Anonymity does not equate to immunity,” he concluded.
