There were 25 individuals who were charged with spreading hatred based on gender, religion and race since 2002. Replying to a parliamentary question by PN MP Karol Aquilina, Minister for Home Affairs Michael Farrugia said that nine out of these 25 people were arraigned during this year alone.

The persons who are charged with spreading hate speech are charged under Article 82 (A) of the Criminal Code. From the figures presented in parliament, there was a peak registered between 2015 and October 2017 with 20 cases reported in this short period alone.

In most of the occasions, the persons arraigned were either handed a fine, a suspended sentence or freed from the accusations.