The Prime Minister of Italy and Her Daughter Get Online Death Threats, This Is the Trigger!

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. (photo: Twitter @Palazzo_Chigi)

JAKARTA - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her 6-year-old daughter have received death threats online from an unemployed person angry at the government's plan to cut anti-poverty subsidies, on Wednesday, December 7.

According to police information, the 27-year-old Sicilian is currently being investigated for threatening behavior. "His home has been searched and his Twitter account has been closed," the police statement said.

Meloni's right-wing government has been looking to limit the so-called "citizens' income" scheme next year before scrapping the measure altogether in 2024, to be replaced by new benefits that have not been detailed.

Meloni, who took office last October, has always been critical of the citizen income subsidies introduced in 2019, arguing that able-bodied people of working age should not be allowed to subsist on state subsidies indefinitely.

Under a proposal included in the 2023 budget, which is currently being debated in parliament, payments to citizens' income subsidies will be withdrawn after eight months except for households with children, persons aged 60 and over, and persons with disabilities.