The identity of all minors should, as much as possible, be protected, Commissioner for Children Pauline Miceli told this newsroom.

Answering questions sent by The Malta Independent in relation to the ongoing case of 17-year-old Liam Debono, Miceli insisted that anonymity was of utmost importance in cases where minors were involved. Particularly in order to ensure that they are given a fair hearing, and their case not prejudiced by public opinion, she said.

Miceli did make it a point to specify that “the Commissioner for Children Act stipulates that the Commissioner cannot go into any specific individual cases that fall within the competence of the court”.

Liam Debono is the youth who currently stands accused of the attempted murder of police officer Simon Schembri earlier this year, and his case has raised various questions regarding freedom of the press in reporting on the accused himself as opposed to the ongoing court case specifically. Not to mention the issues revolving around how much of an effect public opinion may have on juries in such high-profile cases, or truly any case where the accused has to face a jury of his or her peers.

The Commissioner also reasoned that, due to the use of social media and our proximity, this makes it difficult to protect one’s identity. She also pointed that another danger of making use of social media portals for journalistic purposes is that of using the wrong profile as a reference to whom the person involved is.

This, no doubt, was a nudge at Lovin Malta who twice used a picture of another person named Liam Debono as photos for their articles. They have since removed the articles, but this had already led to a post by the ‘wrong’ Debono being acknowledged over 2,000 times on the popular Facebook page “The Salott”.

Social media use

Touching on the use of social media, she also raised the point that her office constantly raises awareness about the safe use of social media, including the posting of photographs and privacy settings.

This is not the first time Miceli has criticised the irresponsible use of social media where children are involved.

Earlier this year, Michelle Muscat had accused her children’s school of not taking steps to protect them from bullying involving the Egrant allegations made against her. She pinpointed instances such as school parties her children were not invited to, and also posts made by the children’s peers in the school’s social media chat group.

In response to this, Kristina Chetcuti had dedicated her regular column on The Sunday Times of Malta to the question and said that “you avoid social media bullying by actually following the rules: children under 13 should NOT have Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat accounts”.

Miceli went on to raise the point with Lovin Malta that practically all children have access to technology, and said that this is a good thing as it has many benefits.

“However, like everything else there are certain risks that children may be exposed to online. Many of the young children we meet are already making use of social media even though, according to the terms and conditions, children should be 13 and over to use most social media platforms. This is very often done without the consent of the parents.”