I am all for freedom of expression, and I fully understand that this is hardest to allow when you disagree with what is being expressed. So, when I saw a spot advert that was produced by our very own far-right party, Imperium Europa, being aired on our national TV station, I was in two minds about it.

On the one hand I felt sick to my stomach that PBS was airing an ad that linked infectious diseases and criminality very cosily to irregular migration, and on the other I thought that, since everybody should have the right to air their opinion, my urge to gag this ad was unfair and undemocratic.

But my dilemma lasted a grand total of five seconds, because that’s how long it took me to realise that the spot in question incited hatred and could possibly even instigate violence. I’m not a lawyer or law expert, but you don’t even have to be particularly bright to realise that the advert was clearly in breach of Article 82A of the Criminal Code. This part of the law states that it is a criminal offence to engage in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour with intent to stir up violence or hatred against a group on grounds of race or ethnic origin. 

The offending advertising spot had been vetted by the Broadcasting Authority and then approved to go on air. It is in fact the Broadcasting Authority that issues instructions to the Public Broadcasting Service to air these electoral spots. 

Within hours of the first spot going on air, the government issued a statement and contacted the Broadcasting Authority, raising the alarm about the advert. Despite this almost immediate reaction, it took the Authority much longer to take the decision to pull the ad off the air.

By its very own admission, at first the Broadcasting Authority did not think that the ad was offensive or harmful. In the Authority’s own words, it did not think that “the association of ideas (devaluation of property, criminality, infectious diseases, and squandering of taxes) was initially manifest”.

It was only when the Authority became aware of the negative reaction of the public that it realised how the spot created a situation that could result in incitement to racial hatred. So, because they had to wait for the public’s reaction to act, it took them a while, but they finally pulled it off the air and asked Imperium Europa to substitute it with another ad, which (hopefully) does not create the same concerns. 

Meanwhile, in the real world, it has been very clearly established, with facts and not fictional emotions, that the European countries that have the largest percentages of ethnic groups in their communities, view immigrants more favourably than those who have low percentages living amongst them.

In the run-up to the EU parliamentary elections, PEW (a non-partisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends around the world) has just published its latest Global Attitudes survey. Amongst other things, it reveals how the French, Germans, Greeks, Italians, Poles, Spaniards and British feel towards ethnic minorities – namely Muslims, Jews and Roma people – living within their societies. 

Given Malta’s proximity to Italy, it came as no surprise (at least to me) that of all the surveyed countries, Italy is the most critical of Muslims, with 63 per cent having unfavourable feelings about them. The majority of Greeks and Poles also hold heavy negative views of this ethnic group but not to the extent of the Italians.

Funnily though, this attitude is not because these countries have been “inundated” by Muslims. On the contrary, Italy, Greece and Poland actually have a much smaller percentage of Muslims living amongst them than Spain, Germany, France and the UK, which all view Muslims in a more favourable light. France, in fact, has the highest percentage of Muslims and has the most favourable view of them.

The situation is practically the same when it comes to Jews. Once again, those countries with a large Jewish population, such as the UK and France, view this ethnic group more favourably than countries in which this group is less present. 

Given not so ancient history, it would perhaps be understandable if the Germans did not hold the most positive feelings towards Jews, but there is a great shining light at the end of the tunnel because it is, in fact, the Germans who have the least negative views of this ethnic group. On the other hand Greece, where the Jewish population is only 0.04 per cent, is split right in the middle with 47 per cent holding unfavourable views of Jews in their country and 47 per cent holding favourable views.

The same Global Attitudes survey also highlights the fact that negative attitudes towards ethnic minorities are most prevalent in far-right ideologies (such as our very own Imperium Europa) and that these same views are linked to age, with the older generations being by far more negative and less accepting of ethnic minorities than the younger ones.

In Spain, for example, about half of the respondents over the age of 50 gave Muslims the most unfavourable rating possible. This was only given by a third of those still under the age of 30. 

So, given Malta’s aging population and the low penetration of ethnic minorities in our society, I would be desperately saddened but not in the least surprised, if the positive predictions for right-wing candidates in the next EP elections materialise.