Italy Issues New Protocol Against Mass School Bomb Threats
Government officials instruct school principals not to evacuate buildings following mass emailed threats unless concrete evidence confirms an actual risk.
- By Jesse Jacobs
- November 12, 2026
Italian government officials have established an operational protocol instructing school principals not to evacuate buildings following mass emailed bomb threats unless concrete evidence confirms an actual danger.
The directive follows an initial wave of emailed bomb threats sent to a provisional total of 1,803 schools across Italy, including the Ripetta art school in Rome. Before the new instructions were distributed, several school principals ordered immediate evacuations upon receiving the messages.
According to Reuters, the mass email campaign spanned two days, affecting 6,300 schools on Wednesday and another 3,778 on Thursday. Following the updated guidance, only 77 of the targeted schools evacuated during the second wave, several for only a brief period.
Reuters also reported that similar threatening emails sent from abroad reached schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, where authorities classified the messages as hoaxes and allowed classes to continue. The alerts represent the latest in a series of hoaxes and cyberattacks across Europe that have recently targeted supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic systems and broadcasters.
To address the disruptions, the Interministerial Committee for the Security of the Republic convened a technical meeting to formalize a uniform response protocol across all public administrations. Under the guidelines, the mere receipt of a mass email suggesting danger is no longer sufficient grounds to clear a building.
Instead, the Ministries of the Interior and Education have notified prefects and school administrators that regular classes should continue as normal. Local prefects retain the sole authority to order an evacuation if they possess specific, well-founded evidence establishing a situation of actual risk within their territory.