Video taking off 55x its usual first day

Fire by the Duomo and looted shops as Italy sends troops to Milan

SBS News' short report runs from a forced store entrance to Giorgia Meloni's condemnation of the rioting, with more than 250 people detained.

Channel:

SBS News Story of October 21, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 170,352 views a day, 55 times a normal first day on this channel (3,085).

Clashes erupt in Italy during cost of living protests

Five hundred soldiers for Milan. That is the Italian government's response to demonstrations over poor services and the rising cost of living that turned into looting and street fires, and SBS News' short report shows the scenes behind the decision.

It opens with masked young people kicking and shoving at the glass doors of a Champion store while onlookers film on their phones. Riot police detain someone on the sidewalk, and looters in dark clothing run through the checkout lanes of a grocery store. At night, a fire burns on the square in front of Milan Cathedral and explosions go off near the barriers. A bystander can be heard urging a group of young people to move away.

On-screen captions say police used tear gas and water cannon after stones were thrown at officers, and that more than 250 people were detained, most of them minors. Similar clashes broke out in other northern cities, including Bologna, Brescia and Turin. The clip ends with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemning the rioting and backing the police.

The Short drew about 170,000 views in its first day, where an SBS News Short usually opens with around 3,000. Its comment section filled far faster than usual, much of it debating whether what the footage shows can still be called a protest. The same day, the channel's evening bulletin, led by the attack on independent MP Helen Haines (as we reported here), also drew a much larger audience than usual.

A day later, SBS News followed up with Meloni's new security measures. Preventive detention, until now limited to adults, will extend to minors, and those responsible will face financial liability for damaged property. The government also plans more juvenile justice magistrates and detention places, and the extra troops are due to stay in Milan until the end of the year. Meloni blamed young people who, in her words, took to the streets to smash things, steal and film themselves doing it.

Published on Trari