Hate speech and hateful behaviors in the Internet: a comparative analysis in a de iure condendo perspective

La presente tesi propone un’analisi comparatistica sull’attuale fenomeno dell’hate speech online, sotto i profili filosofico-giuridico, informatico, sociologico e giuridico, al fine di delineare una soluzione informatico-giuridica alle relative criticità emergenti. Ripercorrendo l’evoluzione teorica del principio fondamentale della libertà di espressione, con particolare attenzione sul contesto storico e culturale di riferimento, si affronta, in primis, il rapporto tra tale libertà e l’hate speech, con la rievocazione dei fondamentali principi del danno e dell’offesa, emersi nella teoria giuridica del XIX e XX secolo. Successivamente, approfondito il peculiare contesto informatico in cui si sviluppa il fenomeno, l’esame si concentra, sotto il profilo sociologico, sui comportamenti umani che lo caratterizzano, focalizzando poi sulle diverse sfaccettature di cui si compone l’hate speech online: dall’odio politico, razziale, religioso alle emergenti manifestazioni di odio interpersonale, fino a giungere alle più rilevanti e preoccupanti forme di molestia online, quali il cyberstalking, il cyberbullismo e il revenge porn. Premessa, dunque, una panoramica teorica e sociologica sulla libertà di espressione e sulle forme espressive di odio e molestia in Rete, la tesi propone un’analisi giuridica del fenomeno, al tempo stesso comparatistica, critica e propositiva. Dopo un confronto critico tra i due principali pensieri teorico-giuridici che si contrappongono sul tema della regolamentazione dell’hate speech, quello europeo e quello americano, e una panoramica comparatistica sull’evoluzione legislativa e giurisprudenziale, la ricerca affronta le principali criticità connesse al fenomeno online, riguardanti i criteri di determinazione della competenza giurisdizionale, l’efficacia delle decisioni giudiziarie e il ruolo dei provider e dei gestori di spazi web. In una prospettiva de iure condendo, viene infine proposta l’attribuzione ai provider di responsabilità e compiti di immediato intervento come soluzione idonea al contenimento del fenomeno dell’hate speech online, non dimenticando la strategica rilevanza, nel lungo periodo, delle politiche educative di alfabetizzazione digitale e contrasto all’espressioni di odio in Rete.This thesis proposes a comparative analysis of the current phenomenon of online hate speech, under the philosophical, juridical, informatic, sociological and legal profiles, in order to outline a legal-informatics solution for its emerging critical issues. Looking back on the theoretical evolution of the fundamental principle of freedom of expression, with particular attention to the historical and cultural context of reference, it first addresses the relationship between freedom and hate speech, re-establishing the fundamental harm principle and offence principle, emerging in the juridical theory of the 19th and 20th centuries. Subsequently, the exam concentrates, from the sociological profile, on the different facets of which online hate speech is composed: from the political, racial, and religious hate to the emerging manifestations of interpersonal hate, to reach the most important and worrying forms of online harassment, such as cyberstalking, cyberbullism and revenge porn. Thus, stated a theoretical and sociological overview of freedom of expression and the expressive forms of hate and harassment on the Internet, the thesis proposes a legal analysis of the phenomenon, at the same time comparative, critical and proactive. After a comparison between the two main theoretical and legal thoughts contrasting the subject of the regulation of hate speech, both the european and the american one, and a comparative overview of legislative and jurisprudential approaches and developments, the research addresses the main criticalities connected with the online phenomenon, regarding the criteria for determining jurisdiction, the effectiveness of judicial decisions, and the role of providers and web site operators. Finally, in a de iure condendo perspective, it is proposed to assign to providers responsibility and immediate intervention tasks as a suitable solution to contain the phenomenon of online hate speech, not forgetting the long-term strategic relevance of the education policies on digital literacy and contrast to hate expressions in the Internet

BLITZ-HF: a nationwide initiative to evaluate and improve adherence to acute and chronic heart failure guidelines

To assess adherence to guideline recommendations among a large network of Italian cardiology sites in the management of acute and chronic heart failure (HF) and to evaluate if an ad-hoc educational intervention can improve their performance on several pharmacological and non-pharmacological indicators

Lopinavir/Ritonavir and Darunavir/Cobicistat in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: Findings From the Multicenter Italian CORIST Study

Background: Protease inhibitors have been considered as possible therapeutic agents for COVID-19 patients. Objectives: To describe the association between lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) or darunavir/cobicistat (DRV/c) use and in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients. Study Design: Multicenter observational study of COVID-19 patients admitted in 33 Italian hospitals. Medications, preexisting conditions, clinical measures, and outcomes were extracted from medical records. Patients were retrospectively divided in three groups, according to use of LPV/r, DRV/c or none of them. Primary outcome in a time-to event analysis was death. We used Cox proportional-hazards models with inverse probability of treatment weighting by multinomial propensity scores. Results: Out of 3,451 patients, 33.3% LPV/r and 13.9% received DRV/c. Patients receiving LPV/r or DRV/c were more likely younger, men, had higher C-reactive protein levels while less likely had hypertension, cardiovascular, pulmonary or kidney disease. After adjustment for propensity scores, LPV/r use was not associated with mortality (HR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.13), whereas treatment with DRV/c was associated with a higher death risk (HR = 1.89, 1.53 to 2.34, E-value = 2.43). This increased risk was more marked in women, in elderly, in patients with higher severity of COVID-19 and in patients receiving other COVID-19 drugs. Conclusions: In a large cohort of Italian patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in a real-life setting, the use of LPV/r treatment did not change death rate, while DRV/c was associated with increased mortality. Within the limits of an observational study, these data do not support the use of LPV/r or DRV/c in COVID-19 patients

Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

Minimal Symptom Expression' in Patients With Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody-Positive Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab

The efficacy and tolerability of eculizumab were assessed in REGAIN, a 26-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), and its open-label extension

I reati informatici e i fenomeni del cyberstalking, del cyberbullismo e del revenge porn

Nel capitolo del manuale sono affrontati, a fini di illustrazione e analisi per lo più didattica accademica, con una versione più aggiornata rispetto alla prima edizione del 2021, i temi riguardanti i reati informatici in generale, a partire dalla loro introduzione nell'ordinamento giuridico italiano, con breve focus sulle singole fattispecie più rilevanti. Sono inoltre affrontati, con ancor maggiore attenzione, i temi riguardanti le manifestazioni di odio e le condotte antigiuridiche e antisociali che si sviluppano online, di più recente diffusione, quali il cyberstalking, il cyberbullismo e il revenge porn

Hate speech online: scenari, prospettive e criticit\ue0 giuridiche del fenomeno

La rivoluzione digitale degli ultimi decenni ha ridisegnato i confini della libert\ue0 di espressione, favorendo la capillare e massiccia partecipazione culturale e la massima \u2013 per lo meno all\u2019attuale stato della scienza e della tecnica \u2013 interazione umana e sociale, consentendo, per\uf2, allo stesso tempo, anche il sorgere di nuove opportunit\ue0 per la limitazione e il controllo di tali forme di manifestazione sociale. La libert\ue0 di espressione rappresenta uno dei temi pi\uf9 controversi delle moderne societ\ue0 liberali, oggetto di ampi dibattiti circa la sua rilevanza, il suo bilanciamento con altri valori fondamentali e dunque la sua limitazione e regolamentazione. Ci\uf2, specialmente laddove si prendano in considerazione quei comportamenti umani, di tipo espressivo, che sono diretti alla lesione del bene supremo della dignit\ue0 dell\u2019uomo. Tra di essi, spicca il fenomeno dell\u2019hate speech, che si estrinseca nell\u2019impiego di epiteti discriminatori finalizzati all\u2019insulto, all\u2019offesa e alla stigmatizzazione di altri individui, sulla base della razza, del genere, dell\u2019orientamento sessuale e di qualsiasi altra caratteristica o forma di appartenenza a gruppi. L\u2019articolo porta in evidenza il modo in cui le nuove tecnologie e soprattutto l\u2019avvento di Internet abbiano influito sul fenomeno dell\u2019hate speech, fornisce una panoramica sull\u2019attuale dibattito dottrinario sulla regolamentazione dell\u2019hate speech e il relativo scenario giuridico, che vedono contrapposte, da una parte, la visione statunitense, legata al Primo Emendamento, favorevole alla libert\ue0 di parola, dall\u2019altra, la visione europea (e di altri Paesi), pi\uf9 attenta all\u2019esigenza di proteggere i principi dell\u2019uguaglianza e della dignit\ue0 umana, anche a fronte della limitazione della libert\ue0 di manifestazione del pensiero. Analizza, altres\uec, le fattispecie pi\uf9 rilevanti, con le relative questioni giurisprudenziali, legate alle espressioni di odio nella Rete. Infine, sono affrontate le maggiori criticit\ue0 riguardanti l\u2019hate speech online, connesse alla responsabilit\ue0 degli Internet Service Providers e alla competenza giurisdizionale territoriale sui singoli casi (posto che l\u2019assenza di confini su Internet impone proprio la necessit\ue0 di ripensare i confini del diritto pubblico e privato online).Digital revolution of the last decades has redrawn the boundaries of freedom of expression, encouraging widespread and massive cultural participation and the highest \u2013 at least in the current state of science and technology \u2013 human and social interaction, allowing, at the same time, even the arising of new opportunities for the limitation and control of these forms of expression in the society. In fact, freedom of expression is one of the most controversial issues of modern liberal societies, it is the subject of extensive debates about its relevance, its balance with other fundamental values and, therefore, its limitation and regulation. This, especially when you take into account those human expressive behaviours that are directed to the lesion of the supreme good of human dignity. Among them, stands the hate speech phenomenon, which consists in discriminatory harassment, offences and stigmatizations of other individuals based on race, gender, sexual orientation and or any other characteristic or form of group membership. This paper highlights how new technologies and especially the advent of the Internet influenced the hate speech phenomenon, and provides an overview of the doctrinal debate about the hate speech regulation and its related legal scenario, that see the counterposition, on the one hand, of the U.S. vision, linked to the First Amendment and absolutely favourable to the freedom of speech, and, on the other hand, the European vision (and other countries), more attentive to the protection of the principles of equality and human dignity, even in the face of the limitation of freedom of expression. Furthermore, it analyses the most relevant jurisprudence cases involving hate speech, with all related most critical issues, regarding the ISP liability and the territorial jurisdiction (because the absence of boundaries on the Internet imposes the need to rethink the boundaries of public law online)