Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S)

EU RANK: 113 (Tier 3: Moderate Performance)

Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S) is a left‑leaning, post‑ideological populist party that has evolved from anti‑establishment protest movement to a more progressive, social‑welfare‑oriented force under Giuseppe Conte. In the 2022 general election it obtained 15.4% of the vote, coming third nationally, while in the 2024 European Parliament election it fell to around 10%, a weaker result than in 2019 but sufficient to remain a significant opposition party. Since leaving government, M5S has focused on defending flagship policies such as the citizen’s income and on reframing itself as an advocate of environmental protection and democratic reforms from the opposition benches.​​

Disinformation and alternative media

M5S was an early pioneer of digital‑first political communication in Italy, building its mobilisation around blogs, online platforms and social media rather than traditional party structures. For years the movement relied heavily on the Casaleggio‑managed Rousseau platform for internal decision‑making and campaigning, a model that blended direct‑democracy rhetoric with centralised control over data and narratives; disputes over this architecture culminated in a split in 2021, forcing M5S to move towards more conventional communication under Conte. Academic and journalistic analyses underscore that while M5S strongly criticised mainstream media and promoted its own channels, this ecosystem was primarily geared towards amplifying the movement’s messages rather than systematically fabricating conspiratorial content.​

In recent years M5S has expanded its presence on television and in mainstream outlets, combining social media with standard campaigning and parliamentary communication. Fact‑checking organisations have challenged specific statements by M5S politicians, particularly in earlier phases on issues like vaccines or EU fiscal rules, but Italy‑wide disinformation mapping now tends to highlight more radical far‑right networks rather than the re‑centred M5S as a leading organiser of false‑information campaigns.

Foreign influence and external alignments

M5S’s foreign‑policy positions have shifted over time from a Eurosceptic, system‑challenging posture towards a more conventional pro‑European but critical stance. Early flirtations with ideas such as a referendum on the euro and alternative alliances gave way to a more pragmatic line during its years in government, including acceptance of EU pandemic‑recovery mechanisms and alignment with Italy’s NATO commitments. Under Conte, the movement has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and supported sanctions while calling for diplomatic efforts and attention to social impacts of energy and cost‑of‑living shocks.​​

Public debates on foreign influence in Italy currently concentrate more on far‑right parties and legacy business‑political networks than on M5S. There is no clear evidence of structured, ongoing relationships between M5S and authoritarian foreign regimes or their state‑aligned media that would pose a distinct information‑integrity risk, even if the party’s earlier anti‑system rhetoric occasionally resonated with Kremlin narratives about EU dysfunction.

Media capture, advertising and public service media

Unlike Forza Italia or the current governing parties, M5S does not control significant media assets and historically positioned itself as an antagonist of both traditional TV and party‑linked newspapers. Its early strategy largely bypassed legacy outlets through blogs, livestreams and social‑media videos, enabling direct communication with supporters but leaving it with limited leverage over editorial agendas. Over time, especially after entering government in 2018, M5S sought more TV exposure and built relationships with journalists, yet it has not developed a structural media empire or advertising‑based system of capture.​

On public broadcasting, M5S has alternated between criticising RAI as part of the old political cartel and supporting reforms to strengthen its independence, particularly when in conflict with right‑wing governments over appointments. While its participation in past coalitions tied it into Italy’s broader patronage dynamics, recent media‑capture concerns—particularly around RAI’s post‑2022 governance—are attributed mainly to the current centre‑right majority rather than to M5S, which now presents itself as a defender of editorial autonomy and pluralism.

Corruption, litigation and institutional integrity

M5S entered Italian politics with a strong anti‑corruption profile and played a key role in passing the “spazzacorrotti” package in 2018–2019, which tightened penalties for corruption and introduced bans on convicted individuals’ access to public tenders. The movement has nonetheless faced mixed judicial outcomes for figures in local office: Rome’s former M5S mayor Virginia Raggi was definitively acquitted in 2021 in a high‑profile case over appointments, while former Turin mayor Chiara Appendino received a recalculated conviction in 2025 for negligence in connection with the Piazza San Carlo crowd‑panic tragedy, a case about public safety rather than graft. These episodes shaped perceptions of M5S competence in local governance more than they revealed systemic corruption within the party.​

At national level, M5S finances rely heavily on contributions from elected officials and small donors, as reflected in 2023 accounts showing over €5 million in “proventi della gestione caratteristica”, alongside roughly €1.85 million in “2×1000” subsidies once the party registered for this mechanism. The movement has criticised opaque funding practices by rivals and promoted transparency, though Italy’s broader regulatory environment and the use of associations or foundations for political activity continue to pose system‑wide integrity risks.

Press freedom, harassment and treatment of critical media

M5S’s relationship with the press has been ambivalent: it has denounced “regime media” and journalists perceived as hostile, yet it has also supported reforms to protect independent reporting from political and corporate pressure. In its early years, the movement’s confrontational tone towards reporters and talk‑show hosts raised concerns about rhetorical delegitimisation of the press, but this has moderated under Conte as M5S has sought to broaden its appeal and present itself as a responsible opposition. Press‑freedom assessments of Italy do not depict M5S as a primary source of state‑driven harassment or structural capture; instead, they focus on government interference in RAI and on the use of defamation suits by right‑wing leaders.

M5S has backed initiatives against abusive defamation laws and for stronger protections for whistle‑blowers and investigative journalists, aligning itself with civil‑society demands for rule‑of‑law safeguards. While individual M5S figures may occasionally clash sharply with specific outlets, there is no evidence of a systematic strategy of legal intimidation or advertising pressure directed by the party against critical media.

Dimension	Risk level	Short justification
Disinformation & alternative media	Medium	Built an early digital‑first ecosystem critical of mainstream media; now more conventional, with no clear evidence of a coordinated conspiratorial network but a history of polarising, anti‑establishment rhetoric online.
Foreign influence & external alignments	Low–Medium	Originated with Eurosceptic overtones but now broadly pro‑EU and pro‑NATO; no documented structural ties to authoritarian regimes, though past rhetoric sometimes overlapped with anti‑EU narratives.
Media‑capture & advertising / PSB control	Low–Medium	Limited structural media ownership and advertising leverage; historically bypassed legacy media, now advocates RAI independence, but has participated in Italy’s politicised broadcasting system when in government.
Corruption & institutional‑integrity risk	Low–Medium	Championed anti‑corruption reforms and not implicated in major funding scandals; mixed record in local‑governance cases and subject to the same systemic party‑finance vulnerabilities as other parties.
Press‑freedom & harassment of media	Medium	Early confrontational rhetoric towards journalists raised concerns, though this has softened; currently supports legal safeguards for media, with no evidence of systematic use of lawsuits or patronage to silence critics.