The Malta Independent 8 July 2025, Tuesday
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FAC Expects progressive reforms with regards to censorship

Malta Independent Thursday, 14 October 2010, 00:00 Last update: about 16 years ago

Though Article 208 of the Criminal Code has been made stiffer, the Front Against Censorship (FAC) said it would remind the government that both the former Minister of Culture, Dolores Cristina and the Parliamentary Secretary responsible for Culture, Mario de Marco have said that a reform on censorship laws was forthcoming.

Article 208 criminalises any kind of pornography, and was used to arraign in court an artist and a newspaper editor for a fictional article.

FAC said that neither Ms Cristina nor Dr de Marco ever said that this law was to be strengthened but made it clear that it needed to be reformed in order to reflect present realities.

So the FAC now expects that work for these reforms should be taken to the next level and be discussed in Parliament, the FAC said. “Strengthening censorship in Malta is anything but sensible reform to address the realities of an EU member state,” it argued

It recalled that the Leader of the Opposition has claimed that his party’s vote in favour of

strengthening Article 208 had been a mistake and the FAC expects the Prime Minister to make a similar declaration. “This would be a signal that the government is genuinely committed to progressive reform. Members of Parliament should be cautious and more attentive on legislation which is being proposed. However the Minister of Interior should have been much more prudent and instead of presenting a set of different reforms in one document, he should have at least stated what all the reforms of the document contained so as to have an open and democratic debate prior to voting. It is shameful that penalties for Article 208 have been increased without even being debated in Parliament or even considering its effects on society,” the FAC said.

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