4 August 2015.
Italy has published the final draft of its bill of rights for internet users.
The Declaration of Internet Rights states that complete net neutrality is necessary “for the effectiveness of an individual\'s fundamental rights”.
This could mean that initiatives such as Facebook's Internet.org project, which aims to introduce new internet users to a range of hand-picked websites through an app, will not be in line with Italian law.
The bill also states that access the internet is a fundamental right for all Italian citizens, an important point as around a third of Italians have never used the internet. It also stresses the importance of the right to anonymity online.
The bill's authors hope to introduce the bill to a wider international audience at the Internet Governance Forum taking place in Brazil in November this year. They have announced their hopes that it will be used as a basis for internet rights laws across the world.
Some commentators have criticised parts of the bill, however, saying that it does not go far enough to protect freedom of speech online. The World Wide Web Foundation have also spoken out, saying: “The Bill falls short in protecting anonymity and encryption, while clauses around data retention are unclear”.
