The Commissioner for Children, Pauline Miceli, has expressed her concern regarding the participation of minors in political campaigns and for communication purposes.

In a press release issued by the Commission, Ms Miceli put the spotlight on the prevention of the exploitation of minors in these circumstances, specifically in the light of the coming general election.

This opinion has been taken a step further through the development of participation standards, drawn up by a variety of local institutions, as a guide for commissioning agents, as well as parents and guardians.

“Since children are attractive subjects for the promotion of products and services ... it is very likely that their images will be used for political communication,” said the commissioner, elaborating that  “in a small country like Malta, where everybody knows one another, it is extremely important for people to be aware of the impact that the repetitive exposure of children’s images can have on them”.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child grants children the right to participate, form an opinion and to form part of a political party. Despite this right, however, Ms Miceli feels that “such active participation by minors is often exploited both by commissioning agents, as well as by parents and guardians who give their wholehearted consent for such participation,” the press release said.

She noted that, “few give consideration to the long term repercussions that might follow a child’s participation in electioneering,” adding that images of minors on billboards and other political material may be the cause of bullying and discrimination.

For this reason, the Office of the Commissioner for Children approached the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority in order to set up standards for the participation of minors in political communication, election campaigns, referenda and all poll-related matters.

The Standard was drawn up by the Technical Committee, which included members from both Labour and Nationalist political parties, Alternativa Demokratika (AD), Agenzija Appogg, The Broadcasting Authority, The Commissioner for Children, The Commission for the Rights of Persons with a Disability, The Faculty for Social Wellbeing at the University of Malta, The Malta Audio Visual Association, The Public Broadcasting Service and the Office of the Information and Data Protection Commissioner.

The standard provides guidelines for commissioning agents and parents or guardians of the minors for the “protection and support of minors throughout all stages of the production,” according to the press release. It requests that, prior to the consent of the parents or guardians, “an assessment is carried out by recognized, caring professionals in order to ensure that the child or minor will not be affected negatively in any way”.

The Standard is open to public consultation up to Friday, 26 May 2017. A copy can be obtained from the Standards Metrology Institute at the following address: Standards Metrology Institute, Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority, Standardisation Directorate, Mizzi House, Triq Nazzjonali, Blata l-Bajda.