(CN) — What country is talking about banning “fake” lab-grown meat and flour made from pulverized insects, blocking ChatGPT, not recognizing the children of gay couples and punishing the use of foreign words by officialdom? Italy. In a dizzying few weeks, the government of far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has thrown off its pretense of moderation and shown its reactionary character by opening culture battles over gay rights, the advance of new technologies and what it means to be Italian. Meloni became prime minister after her party, the far-right Brothers of Italy, won national elections last September. “There’s a natural proclivity on the side of this government to deliver on anti-modernity,” said Andrea L.P. Pirro, a political scientist and expert on extreme right-wing politics at the University of Bologna. “There’s this idea that the far right has embodied over the decades: A firm stance should be taken against modernity.”