Italy‘s ruling party has introduced a law that seeks to ban governments and corporations from using English in official communications under threat of fines up to 100,000 euros, or $150,000.
Though the bill would prohibit the use of all foreign terms in official communications, the proposed law is particularly interested in quelling the rise of “Anglomania,” and calls for the protection and conservation of the Italian language. “It is not just a matter of fashion, as fashions pass, but Anglomania (has) repercussions for society as a whole,” reads a draft version of the bill, introduced by the right-wing, nationalist Brothers of Italy party.
Read more: Finland’s centre-right party claims election win over Sanna Marin It adds that the spread of English “demeans and mortifies” the Italian language and its popularity in Europe is “even more paradoxical and negative” now that the U.K.
has left the European Union. The bill would see all use of English and even English terms that have naturally made their way into the Italian lexicon banned from government communications, private companies promoting their goods and services, and even university classrooms, unless the course is specifically teaching a foreign language.