Landmark 2025 Ruling: “Cult” Label Is Defamation

The new religious movement Soka Gakkai wins key defamation case against anti-cult group in landmark ruling in Italian court June 2025 

In a major legal and moral victory for religious freedom in Europe, the Justice Court of Florence has delivered a resounding judgment in favor of Soka Gakkai, a Buddhist-based new religious movement, affirming the right of religious communities to practice and operate without being subject to defamatory attacks.

Bitter Winter, the leading international online magazine for human rights and religious freedom, reported the case on 25^th July in an article headlined “Italian Anti-Cult Association Sentenced to Pay Euro 35,000 for Defaming Soka Gakkai”. The article was written by Dr. Massimo Introvigne, Italian sociologist of religion and editor-in-chief of Bitter Winter.

As he writes, the court ruled on 16^th June 2025, that the Italian Association of Cult Victims (AIVS), a leading anti-cult organization, and its two key figures, must pay €35,247 in damages for defaming the Italian branch of Soka Gakkai. This ruling is not just a legal resolution of a specific conflict; it is a meaningful precedent for all minority religious groups facing discrimination under the guise of “cult-busting.”

At the heart of this case lies a profound and often overlooked issue: the power of language to marginalize, stigmatize, and criminalize peaceful belief systems. The court specifically found that the repeated use of the term seta – the Italian equivalent of “cult,” with strong pejorative implications – to describe Soka Gakkai was not only inappropriate but inherently defamatory.

This follows the 2022 European Court of Human Rights decision in Tonchev v. Bulgaria, which determined that similar terminology carries a defamatory weight incompatible with the protection of religious rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The implications of this are profound. It challenges the deeply ingrained practices of anti-cult organizations across Europe that frequently weaponize emotionally charged language to delegitimize religious minorities. It also signals that courts are increasingly willing to recognize that such rhetoric is not simply free speech but harmful defamation when it undermines public trust and sows prejudice against legitimate religious organizations.

The ruling also exposes the fragility of the factual claims made by AIVS. Among their most inflammatory accusations was the claim that Soka Gakkai secured its Intesa – a formal agreement with the Italian government granting legal recognition and access to public funds – through bribery involving former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The court found this allegation to be not only baseless but factually impossible, as the legislative process began before Renzi’s premiership and was supported across political lines, including by those hostile to his administration. This kind of unfounded claim is emblematic of the tactics used by some anti-cult actors who rely on innuendo and conspiracy rather than verifiable facts.

In addition, AIVS accused Soka Gakkai of financial opacity, particularly in how it used state-allocated funds from taxpayer designations. Here, too, the court found the claims entirely false, noting that Soka Gakkai’s financial reports are exemplary, even when compared to other religious groups with similar arrangements. Such transparency undermines any rational basis for AIVS’s allegations and highlights the destructive intent behind their campaign.

Perhaps most troubling was AIVS’s dissemination of explicitly offensive material, including a YouTube video advocating the burning of the Gohonzon [See editor’s note below], Soka Gakkai’s central object of devotion, on the grounds that it “brings bad luck”. This crosses any reasonable line of criticism or religious commentary and enters the realm of religious hatred and incitement. That such actions were committed in public spaces underscores the importance of legal recourse for minority faiths under threat.

The Florence court’s decision should be applauded as a defense of pluralism, dignity, and coexistence. In a time when religious minorities remain vulnerable to social and legal exclusion, this case affirms that they too are entitled to legal protections against defamation, slander, and hate. For Soka Gakkai – and by extension, all communities seeking recognition without persecution – this ruling is more than compensation; it is validation. And for Europe, it is a step closer to upholding its ideals of freedom, tolerance, and justice for all.

Text: Knut Holdhus, editor

Featured image above: Dr. Massimo Introvigne, here speaking in Geneva, Switzerland on 16th June 2025. Photo: Edited screenshot from video recording by UPF.

[Editor’s note: The Gohonzon embodies the fundamental law of the universe – Nam-myoho-renge-kyo – and symbolizes the innate Buddha nature present in all people. Practitioners chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and recite sections of the Lotus Sutra while facing the Gohonzon, believing that this practice awakens their inherent enlightenment and empowers them to confront and transform life’s difficulties.]

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