Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has introduced a new legislation to ban the use of English and and other foreign words in official communications. Violators could face fines of up to €100,000 (about Rs 90 lakh).
According to the draft legislation, all foreign languages, especially “Anglomania” or use of English words “demeans and mortifies” the Italian language. The situation is even worse because the UK is no longer part of the EU. It also prohibits use of English in official documentation, including “acronyms and names” of job roles in companies operating in the country, CNN reported.
“It is not just a matter of fashion, as fashions pass, but Anglomania has repercussions for society as a whole,” the draft bill stated. Foreign entities would have to have Italian language editions of all internal regulations and employment contracts, CNN reported quoting from the draft bill.
Read more: Italy PM Giorgia Meloni visits India, seeking to improve ties
While the first article of the legislation required Italian be the primary language used in official communication even with non-Italians, the second article would make Italian “mandatory for the promotion and use of public goods and services in the national territory.” Not doing so could garner fines between €5,000 (about Rs 4.5 lakh) and €100,000 (about Rs 90 lakh).
The proposed law would also focus on the “correct use of the Italian language and its pronunciation” in schools, media, commerce and advertising, which could mean that saying “bru-shetta” instead of “bru-sketta” could be a punishable offense.
The new bill comes days after Italy announced it was temporarily blocking OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT over data privacy concerns, becoming the first western country to do so.
Read more: OpenAI's ChatGPT blocked in Italy: Privacy watchdog
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