In the Senate three bills on the 'democratic shield' to protect the vote from foreign interference

The need for a democratic shield to protect democracy during elections from possible foreign interference, implemented for example with fake news, animates the debate in Parliament. In particular, there are currently three bills on the topic in the Senate.

The first dates back to April 2025, when it was proposed by Carlo Calenda together with the other Action senator, Marco Lombardo and it is the bill with the most advanced process: assigned to the Constitutional Affairs commission, hearings are underway (the next ones are scheduled for Tuesday and a written text could arrive from the former president of the Constitutional Court, Marta Cartabia). At the end of October, a Forza Italia bill was added - first signed by the group leader Stefania Craxi and Senator Daniela Ternullo - and the third is coming from Senator Mariastella Gelmini of Noi Moderates. As Senator Lombardo explains, the hope is to be able to converge on a single text to broaden the final consensus as much as possible and be able to close the first round before the maneuver reaches the Senate.

The Action bill starts from the definition of 'democratic shield' understood as "a set of control and monitoring provisions aimed at regulating the controls necessary to ensure freedom in the exercise of the right to vote" and "in participation in electoral competitions, as an essential condition to guarantee the integrity of the democratic process from foreign interference aimed at manipulating consensus through artifices and deceptions carried out with the production, promotion and dissemination of false or distorted information".

The general intent is to introduce supervisory systems, limits, obligations and sanctions in electoral matters, as well as security of digital communications to prevent foreign interference, also drawing inspiration from the reports of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. FI's proposal aims to protect the integrity of the elections (from municipal to European) by providing an operational, control and coordinated perimeter and delegates the government for one year to translate the principles identified by Parliament into implementing decrees. For example, it provides filters and analysis mechanisms to recognize digital manipulation and disinformation campaigns carried out through artificial intelligence.