Edizioni Proposta Sud S.r.l. – €20,000 Fine (Italy, 2023)

The case involves a complaint filed against Edizioni Proposta Sud S.r.l., an Italian media outlet (the controller). The complaint concerns an article published on 21 December 2021 in "Il Quotidiano del Sud" owned by the controller. The article falsely reported that the complainant, a civil servant in the Municipality, had tested positive for COVID-19 and was in isolation. The publication included a photograph of the complainant and a caption indicating her supposed isolation. Subsequent articles on 23 December 2021 exacerbated the situation by linking her absence from a council meeting to a quarantine related to the virus. The complainant contested the accuracy of the information on the day of publication, requesting the removal of the article, but received no response from the controller. On 26 October 2022, the DPA requested the controller express its views on the complaint, to which the controller failed to respond. Only following a second request, for which the controller was charged with breaching [https://www.garanteprivacy.it/web/guest/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9042678 Article 157 of the Codice Privacy] in conjunction with [https://www.garanteprivacy.it/codice Article 166(2) of the Codice Privacy], the controller defended its actions by claiming that the information was truthful and the information was of public interest and fell within the realm of freedom of the press. The Italian DPA concluded that the complainant's claim against the controller was justified. The DPA clarified that [https://www.garanteprivacy.it/codice Article 136 of the Privacy Code] does not exempt those who work in the field of journalism from complying with the general principles of data processing laid down in Article 5(1) GDPR. It further noted that [https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9067692 Article 4 of the Deontological Rules] mandates journalists to correct inaccuracies without delay. In light of the present facts, the DPA considered th