The Anti-Cyber Harassment Alliance (ACHA) is arguing that internet service providers should intervene quickly in cases of online harassment, but chairman Deborah Schembri stressed that safeguards would be in place to avoid the abuse of such powers.
Dr Schembri was speaking at a press conference held outside the Nationalist Party’s headquarters, following a meeting it had with representatives of the party.
The Labour MP noted that local internet service providers have already signed agreements in which they accept to implement what is known as a “notice and take down” process, through which they commit to quickly removing access to content that is determined to be illegal.
Such a process is necessary, under EU law, for ISPs not to be held responsible for any illegal content accessed through their service, and ACHA believes that such mechanisms could be key to helping address bullying, harassment, stalking and defamation which may take place over the internet.
But Dr Schembri also pointed out that despite ISPs compliance to the law, no national authority is currently responsible for issuing takedown notices.
On the other hand, however, setting up structures to block access to internet content may itself be grounds for abuse, depending on the way the process is carried out. Public figures, for instance, may seek to use anti-harassment laws to censor legitimate criticism online.
In reply to questions by this newspaper, however, the MP assured that the ACHA is aware of such possibilities, and that it is seeking to address them.
“We are not saying that anyone should be able to take down a website as they see fit,” she said, adding that there would be guidelines for the public authority responsible to follow.
But both Dr Schembri and MEP Joseph Cuschieri, another member of the ACHA, also emphasised that the response to genuine cases should be quick.
“The authority must be efficient, it should not sit idle when faced with clear evidence,” the MEP interjected, in a sentiment which was shared by Dr Schembri.
As explained above, the ACHA believes that ideally, an authority should be set up to handle claims of cyber-harassment, but Dr Schembri emphasised that its own proposals were not set in stone.
“It is possible that people who have been affected by cyber-harassment and experts in the field can come up with better ideas. And we encourage them to come forward.”
The meeting with the PN is part of the alliance’s efforts to seek the feedback of stakeholders, which will also be invited to a seminar it is planning to organise in December. Dr Schembri said that she was pleased by the interest shown by the party.
Dr Schembri and another ACHA member – former PN MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando – both emphasised the importance of tackling cyber-harassment, with each emphasising that the effect on people’s lives can be considerable.
On his part, Dr Pullicino Orlando recounted a case of someone who received so many unwanted SMS that the tone of his mobile phone filled him with dread.
Dr Schembri, meanwhile, observed that no one was immune to cyber-harassment. Children bullied at school, she explained, often continued to experience bullying over the internet, when they should be feeling safe at home. Bullying at the workplace also carried a similar pattern.
She added that as a family lawyer, she often came across cases of estranged spouses whose arguing spilled over to the internet.
The MP also noted that the internet could aggravate harassment by making it more public, and that the harm done to an individual may not be noticed by people around them.
Existing laws, she insisted, did not address the phenomenon adequately: a wider scope and harsher penalties were required.