Meloni's “parents pay” decree: checking the viral claims against her words
After young people smashed and looted shops in Milan on October 17–18 following a protest over the cost of living, Italy's Meloni government approved a decree on October 20 that creates a new crime for group violence at demonstrations and makes parents pay for damage caused by their minor children. The story is spreading on Japanese social media as “protest is a right, but destruction is not” and “parents will pay the full cost.” We checked these claims against the full text of the prime minister's video message and the government's official announcement, and set out the views of those who want clear order and responsibility and those worried about free expression and the impact on children.
Verdict: are the viral claims true?
- True“Meloni acknowledged that protest is a right”At the end of her video message she said, “Protesting is a right; putting our cities to fire and sword is not” (in Italian). She stressed that the government talks with peaceful protesters such as farmers and truck drivers.
- True“Whoever breaks things will have to pay for them”She set out the principle that “whoever breaks it pays.” For public property the prefect orders payment; owners of shops, cars and other private property can obtain an immediately enforceable court payment order.
- True“If the offender is a minor, the parents will pay”She said that if the person who causes the damage is a minor, the parents pay. The decree also imposes an administrative fine of 500–1,000 euros on parents, which they avoid if they prove they could not have prevented it. Parental liability for children's damage already existed in the civil code.
- Misleading“She said they will pay because everyone saw what happened”She opened by saying “we have all seen the images” of the weekend's violence, but that was a recap of events. She did not give it as the reason for making people pay.
- Misleading“Offenders and parents will pay the full amount immediately”She did not say “full amount.” Payment orders can be challenged, and a prefect's order can be contested in court within 40 days, although she said parents must pay while an appeal is pending.
- Misleading“The decree uses AI biometrics to identify masked rioters”She described biometric recognition as one of the measures already approved “in recent months.” It is not part of the decree announced this time.
- Misleading“The rioters were migrants”She said half of the 330 people detained or arrested were of foreign origin, but that includes people born in Italy to foreign families. She also cited the usual militant fringes and many minors who gathered via social media.
Translated and adapted from our Japanese original. Facts are as of the original publication date unless noted.
Should protest violence be met with tougher penalties and parental liability?
- Penalty for the new crime
- Up to 5 years
- Administrative fine for parents
- €500–1,000
- Extra troops for Milan
- 500 (to year-end)
Order and responsibility
Protest is a right, but destruction and looting are crimes. Offenders and their parents should take responsibility.
Free expression and children
Heavier penalties will not prevent violence, and children's rights and the freedom to protest are at risk.
- Both sides agree
- Smashing and looting shops is unacceptable.
- What to watch next
- How parliament handles the provisions on minors when it votes on the decree within 60 days.
Key points
- In Milan, northern Italy, on October 17–18, young people smashed and looted shops after a protest over the cost of living. Many of those detained were minors.
- On October 20, the Meloni government approved a decree creating a new crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, for joining a group of five or more at a demonstration and throwing objects, and a mechanism making parents pay for damage caused by their minor children.
- Meloni said protest is a right but devastating cities is not, and explained the principle that “whoever breaks it pays — and if it is a minor, the parents pay.” This part of the story spreading in Japan matches what she said.
- Claims that people will be made to pay “the full amount immediately,” that “AI will identify masked rioters” as a new measure, or that “the rioters were migrants” go further than her words or the decree.
1. What is happening
Sorting out the viral claims
| Viral claim | What we confirmed |
|---|---|
| Protest is a right, so she won’t deny it | She said, “Protesting is a right; putting our cities to fire and sword is not.” |
| Rioting, robbery and destruction will not be tolerated | She said devastation and looting are not protest but crimes. |
| Everyone saw it, so they will pay | “We have all seen the images” was her opening recap, not a reason for payment. |
| Offenders will pay for the damage | She said whoever breaks it pays. The prefect claims for public property; private owners use court payment orders. |
| If it’s a minor, the parents pay | She said that if the offender is a minor, the parents pay. Appeals are possible. |
| Parents pay “the full amount immediately” | She did not say “full amount.” Appeals are possible, but she said parents must pay in the meantime. |
| AI biometrics to identify masked rioters is a new measure | She presented it as a measure already approved in recent months. |
What happened in Milan
- October 17 (Saturday): More than 5,000 people gathered in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo for a protest, organized via social media, over the cost of living and the state of schools and health care. Young people in black then threw stones, bottles and firecrackers at police, and windows of shops and historic buildings were smashed.
- October 18 (Sunday): Young people who had organized via social media raided shopping streets in small groups, looting sporting goods stores and supermarkets. There were also clashes in Turin and Bologna.
- By the morning of the 19th, 271 people had been taken to police stations, 220 of them minors. On the 20th, Meloni said 330 people had been detained or arrested, and that the youngest identified was believed to be 11.
Main contents of the decree
A decree takes effect as soon as it is published in the official gazette, but lapses if parliament does not convert it into law within 60 days.
- New crime: Joining a group of five or more during a protest and endangering people, for example by throwing objects, is punishable by 2–5 years in prison and a fine of up to 20,000 euros. Penalties are higher for those who cover their faces, and leaders or those who incite violence online face 4–12 years.
- Deferred arrest: Even if not caught on the spot, people identified from video can be arrested within 48 hours.
- Minors’ capacity: For 14- to 18-year-olds, courts previously had to establish that they could tell right from wrong; this capacity will now be presumed unless proven otherwise. The age of criminal responsibility (14) does not change.
- Parents’ liability: If a child takes part in certain crimes, parents face an administrative fine of 500–1,000 euros (1,000–2,000 euros for repeat cases), unless they prove they could not have prevented it.
- Paying for damage: The prefect can order parents to pay for damage to public property (appealable within 40 days). Shop owners and other victims can obtain an immediate court payment order.
- Preventive detention: The power to hold people at a police station for up to 12 hours when there are concrete grounds to suspect dangerous behavior is extended to security at crowded places and to minors (reports say those 16 and over).
- Troops: 500 more soldiers will be deployed in Milan until the end of the year. A plan to give them police powers was dropped after consultations with the President’s office.
On the same weekend, protests over the cost of living also turned violent in France (our article on the France protests).
Sources (mostly in Japanese)
2. What each side says
We summarize each side's main arguments in our own words, based on the original statements and reporting.
Order and responsibility
Meloni said that “devastation and looting are not protest, they are crimes” (in Italian), and that no political view or social grievance can justify smashing shops and stealing goods. Behind the shop windows, she said, are families who have invested their lives and workers who could lose their jobs.
She said damage in Milan came to about 1 million euros according to a business association estimate, and that nearly 200 police officers were injured. She drew a clear line between violent people and peaceful protesters, with whom the government will keep talking.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini of the coalition partner League had already called for “whoever breaks it pays” before the decree, and proposed requiring protest organizers to provide financial guarantees.
Free expression and children
Francesco Petrelli, president of the Union of Italian Criminal Chambers (the national criminal defense lawyers' association), said the new crime punishes people as if they belonged to an organized crime group where no organization exists, which could undermine principles of criminal law and the constitution. He called the extension of deferred arrest to minors and the change in how their criminal capacity is assessed “very serious” (in Italian).
Elly Schlein, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said repression alone is not enough — otherwise the government would not have needed six security decrees in a row — and criticized it for doing nothing on prevention. She questioned the proportionality of preventive detention for minors, a measure she said had not worked even for adults.
Giuseppe Conte, leader of the opposition Five Star Movement, said just after the unrest that violence must be condemned but dissent must not be denied (in Italian).
President Mattarella
After consultations with the President's office, a plan to give the troops sent to Milan the same powers as police was dropped from the decree. On October 21, President Sergio Mattarella said society must not be indifferent to young people and needs a broad strategy to address their anxieties about the future (in Italian).
Posts on X
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: “Protesting is a right; devastating our cities is not.” She posted a video explaining the measures approved by the cabinet (in Italian).
View the post by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on X ↗
Videos
Reading between the lines
This section is our editors' interpretation (speculation). It is not confirmed, but the facts it is based on are sourced.
The Meloni government
Why use a decree, a strong tool, just two days after the unrest?
SpeculationWith images of the weekend spreading at home and abroad and another protest planned for the following weekend, the government appears to have prioritized showing that the state acted immediately. A provision on minors' criminal capacity had been submitted as a bill in July but was stuck in parliament; the unrest gave the government the opportunity to move it into a decree that takes effect right away.
Facts this is based on
- • The presumption of criminal capacity for minors came from a bill approved by the cabinet in July that was still in a lower-house committee, and was moved into the decree.Pagella Politica (what the new decree provides, Italian)(Oct 21)
- • Meloni said provisions under debate in parliament would take effect immediately through the decree.Italian government (full text of Meloni's video message, Italian)(Oct 20)
- • Milan's mayor said he was worried the same people would turn up at the next Saturday's protest.LaPresse (Milan mayor Sala worried about Saturday, Italian)(Oct 21)
The opposition
Why condemn the violence but oppose the decree?
SpeculationFailing to condemn the violence would invite accusations of siding with rioters, but the opposition appears wary that the peaceful protesters' demands — over the cost of living and education — will be drowned out by the security debate. With the prime minister demanding that they condemn the violence “without ambiguity,” they have had to separate their condemnation from their criticism of the decree.
Facts this is based on
- • Meloni called on all political forces to condemn the violence without ambiguity.Italian government (full text of Meloni's video message, Italian)(Oct 20)
- • Schlein accused the government of exploiting the violence to drown out peaceful protest.Avvenire (tally of the Milan weekend unrest, Italian)(Oct 19)
What people are saying
We searched Japanese posts on X for terms such as “Meloni compensation,” “Meloni parents,” “Meloni minors” and “Meloni preventive detention” from October 20–21, 2026. Most posts praised the decree; only a few expressed concern.
Order and responsibility
- “Paying for what you break, and making parents responsible for minors, is only common sense. It's reassuring that she can decide this so quickly.”
- “She's trying to separate protests from riots. What's protected is freedom of speech, not freedom to throw stones.”
- “Japan should also take a tougher line on vandalism carried out under cover of a protest.”
Free expression and children
- “I understand holding people liable for destruction, but an emergency decree is a strong tool, so safeguards for freedom are needed too.”
Posts are paraphrased, not quoted, and individual accounts are not named.
3. Where things stand
Where they agree
- Smashing and looting shops is unacceptable.
- The right to protest peacefully should be protected.
Where they disagree
- Whether heavier penalties and wider detention of minors will prevent violence.
- How far parents should be held responsible for damage caused by their children.
What to watch
- Whether parliament approves the decree within 60 days, and whether the provisions on minors are amended.
- Whether the protest planned for the next weekend passes peacefully.
- How France and other European countries respond.
It is true that Meloni said protest is a right but devastating cities is not, and explained that “whoever breaks it pays, and if it is a minor, the parents pay.” Claims that people will pay “because everyone saw it,” must pay “the full amount immediately,” that AI identification is a new measure, or that “the rioters were migrants” go further than her words or the decree. Those who prioritize order argue that destruction and looting are crimes and that offenders and their parents should naturally be held responsible. Those who are concerned argue that heavier penalties will not stop violence and could undermine children's rights and the freedom to protest.