The reverberations of the war in Gaza have not stopped in Italy, where the governing majority and opposition parties have found common ground on the call for a ceasefire, but also where a controversy linked to this conflict has been growing within a public broadcasting sector which is already under strain. On Wednesday, February 14, debates continued over accusations of censorship relating to events that took place on Saturday, February 10, on stage at the Sanremo Music Festival. The festival is the most important cultural event of the year in Italy, and it is organized and broadcast by RAI, the country's public broadcaster.

During the final evening of the festival, the Italian-Tunisian rapper Ghali concluded his live performance with the slogan, "Stop the Genocide," referring to the ongoing massacres in the Gaza Strip. The following day, on X, the Israeli ambassador to Italy, Alon Bar, reacted strongly musician's appeal, describing the fact that the Sanremo festival stage had been "exploited to spread hatred and provocation in a superficial and irresponsible manner" as "shameful," referring to the fate of the victims of the October 7, 2023 massacres and lamenting the fact that they had not been given a demonstration of solidarity during the festival.

RAI's reaction to this event has only served to rekindle the controversy and the accusations of the public broadcaster's executives' subservience to those in political power, which have been heard since Giorgia Meloni became Italy's prime minister. Indeed, during an RAI 1 entertainment program broadcast on Sunday, presenter Mara Venier read an unusual statement from the public broadcaster's managing director, Roberto Sergio. The statement, made in response to the previous day's events, expressed solidarity with the Israeli people without mentioning the Palestinian victims of the conflict, provoking applause and jeers from the audience.

The rapper Ghali, back on the air, was able to speak on the same stage. However, on the same program, debates about the independence of public channels were also fueled by the presenter's decision to – diplomatically but firmly – put an end to a speech in favor of a more welcoming migration policy by singer Dargen D'Amico, who spoke of the economic contributions made by immigrants living in Italy.

"The statement read out live, the incident about the migrants give the image of a company that's afraid, afraid of political pressure, afraid of deviating from the line... there's a form of self-censorship that's setting in," said an RAI executive, speaking on condition of anonymity. However, the influence and presence of political forces within RAI management is nothing new. Since the 1970s, political parties have determined the political balance at the helm of the public broadcasting company. Six of the seven seats on RAI's Board of Directors are currently appointed by both houses of parliament and by the government.

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