Italy's Meloni government considering law against 'glorifying' crimes online after YouTubers kill a kid

The nationalist Giorgia Meloni government in Italy is mulling a new law that would effectively jail people, convicted of "glorifying illegal activity” online for up to five years.

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The move comes after an Italian YouTuber named Matteo Di Pietro, driving a rented Lamborghini SUV, as part of a social media stunt, crashed into a Smart car in Rome. In the accident, a five-year-old boy [ManuelProietti]was killed while his mother and four-year-old sister suffered serious injuries.

Five of those inside the supercar belonged to a group called 'The Borderline'. They had been partaking in a social media challenge that sees influencers competing in stunts to win prizes. They had been attempting to spend 50 hours straight in the luxury vehicle.

The YouTube group quits

After the incident, The Borderline, which has over 600,000 subscribers said it was cancelling its YouTube channel as it was "morally impossible" to continue.

“The Borderline expresses sincere sympathy to the family [of Manuel]. What happened has left us all with a deep wound, nothing will ever be the same again...our thoughts are only with Manuel," the group said.

To avoid a repeat of the tragedy, the coalition government is extending a current law that targets youth gang crime, drafted byMatteo Salvini’s League party.

Chasing views might end up in jail sentence

Under the new law, those who “glorify illegal activity” or “instigate violence” by posting videos online to generate an income would be charged. Social media platforms have been rife with so-called 'content creators' using unconventional and unethical means to gain clicks and views.

"The contrast to the production and dissemination of videos that glorify illegal conduct is one of its qualifying points," said Andrea Ostellari, an undersecretary at the justice ministry about the proposed law.

Ostellari added the law was aimed a fighting “an emerging phenomenon” regarding young people who “instigate violence” or who “commit crimes via digital channels” in order “to obtain a few ‘likes’ without taking the risks into account”.

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Italy's deputy prime minister and transport minister, Salvini has already promised to toughen the rules of the highway code due to the increasing trend of accidents. One of the proposals bats for delaying the issuance of a diving license, allowable from the age of 18. to young people who have been involved in episodes of violence.

(With inputs from agencies)

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