Anti-mafia organizations in Italy express alarm over Facebook pages
praising some of Cosa Nostra's most notorious and bloody bosses.
"Fan clubs" for jailed Mafia bosses such as Bernardo
Provenzano, arrested in 2006 after nearly four decades on the run, and Toto
Riina, nabbed in 1993 after 24 years at large, have appeared on Italian pages
of the social networking site.
Anti-Mafia organizations, such as Libera, are concerned that members of
pro-Mafia Facebook groups are young people. They put the blame primarily on a culture that tends to glorify criminals.
Anti-Mafia activists are divided over whether the pages should be
blacked-out or censored.
(SOUNDBITE) (Italian) TONIO DELL'OLIO, HEAD OF THE INTERNATIONAL
DEPARTMENT OF LIBERA:
"We don't think that we can solve the problem by banning these
activities (Facebook mafia fun clubs), through censorship. We should fight
them by providing alternative models that make (the young people) understand
how more convenient for everyone it is to abide by the law and to behave
properly."
