He did so because Silvio Berlusconi had virtual control of all of Italy’s media outlets. There was no outlet for criticism of Berlusconi’s rule. That blog was to become the seventh most popular in the world, thousands logged on every day to listen to Grillo’s merciless but always witty denunciation of Italian politicians, and snippets of scandal that could not be read anywhere else. One post alone attracted an incredible 10,000 comments.