A year of great commitment for the Postal Police in combating cyber crimes. 9.433 those committed in 2023 against the person: stalking, defamation, threats, revenge porn, harassment, illicit data processing and hate speech are the most widespread. 1.235 the people under investigation, with an increase of 7% compared to 2022, with 31 code red cases.
These are the data contained in the postal police report, which summarizes the most significant interventions carried out in 2023. The commitment of the State Police Specialty has been constantly addressed in the areas of prevention and combating online child pornography, the protection of critical infrastructures of national importance, financial cyber crime and those relating to subversive-terrorist threats, attributable to forms of religious fundamentalism and ideological political extremism, even in international contexts.
Great attention and commitment also on the front of consumer protection and Made in Italy, with the seizure of numerous counterfeit products. Several sites with registered offices abroad that operated without authorization in our country in the betting sector were also blocked.
“Il monitoring of sites and web spaces (blogs, social groups and dedicated sites) dedicated to clandestine games and betting – we read in the report – it is another sector particularly followed by the Postal and Communications Police, both to combat irregular or illegal diffusion, and to protect the interests of consumers, especially if they are minors: there are numerous sites with registered offices in foreign countries, which operate in Italy, even if they do not have the required authorization to be able to operate legally collecting bets".
“Given a decreasing overall number of cases – adds the report -, There does not appear to be a reduction in the risk for children and pre-adolescents of being the object of sexual attention from adults while they are online, watching their favorite videos and playing video games. The reports relating to cases of online solicitation, in fact, tell of a slightly decreasing number of cases, higher for the groups of potential victims who do not exceed 13 years of age. It is also worth highlighting that these are children and young people who should not have access to social media and who should be punctually supervised by their parents, precisely because they are particularly fragile given their young age. (…) Social networks and online video games are the places of contact between minors and adults that are most frequently the scene of harmful interactions, further proof of the fact that the risk is more likely to materialize when children and young people express themselves with light-heartedness and confidence, in the languages and behaviors typical of their age".
