In recent years, Malta has seen coordinated campaigns to ridicule, insult, humiliate and degrade anybody who speaks out against the establishment, Partit Demokratiku said.
Activists have had personal information posted online and comments and images are often propagated which imply violence. The participation of public figures in such activities, some even paid salaries by the public purse, sometimes encouraging such behaviour out in the open, is completely unacceptable, it added in a statement.
Both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party must curb online bullying by penalising those who claim to represent them, while propagating hate speech, distorting news and facts, encouraging psychological violence and lowering the standards of public life and democracy in Malta.
This policing is essential for a healthier and more respectful atmosphere in Malta, and it is crucial that we go beyond paying lip service to certain ideals if we want to be taken seriously. It is contemptible that unpaid trolls are also subtly encouraged by the authorities. Political parties must self-regulate. The alternative is to believe that they encourage it.
Partit Demokratiku once again calls for the appointment of a Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, and notes that it remains the only party repeatedly pursuing this appointment. The Standards in Public Life Act already makes provision for this appointment by the President of Malta, with the support of a two-thirds majority in Parliament. It is long overdue that this be put into force.