Italy’s Justice Minister Angelino Alfano has put forth a proposal of law that would hold bloggers liable for comments they make on the blogsphere.  Under the proposal, bloggers would have 48 hours to rectify their opinion, in addition to facts, else face hefty fines up to 10,000 euros, or just over $14,000.

Supporters of the bill say that they can safeguard their reputations, while detractors cite loss of freedom of speech and will effectively gag those wishing to express their opinions. Another point made is that many bloggers do so on a part-time basis, and may not be able to make changes within the 48 hour window.

Introduction of the bill led to the first-ever blogging strike last month in Italy. Organizer and journalist Alessandro Gilioli told the BBC that the Italian government is “discouraging the use of the internet, forcing all the bloggers to rectify any opinion that anybody thinks is hurting his honor or reputation and they are creating big fines, more than €10,000 if you don't publish your rectification in two days.

"So that means that if a teenager stays two days away from the computer and he doesn't rectify his opinion, he is going to pay €10,000.

"That's stupid and that's incredible and overall that's discouraging people to use the internet."

The BBC also reported that Francesco Pizzetti, president of Italy’s Data Protection Authority, said that “I believe these norms are acceptable. They just state that if they write something false about me on a website, I have the right to see my opinion published and my request for a correction published," he said.

"I don't believe they create a new obligation, so I don't believe they concern bloggers. It concerns the websites of newspapers and of the press generally."

Bloggers around the world have weighed in on this matter, which is coming to a vote in the Italian senate in the autumn. Some are taking closer looks at Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s interests and influence over much of the Italian media, and others are warning of similar action in other parts of the European Union, and questioning why in Italy over half of the population have no access to the Internet and that the half who do may be seriously censored.