Thursday afternoon saw the inauguration of a new hate crime and speech unit, which will be specialising in fighting against hate speech and hate crime.

Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia explained that the unit will be focusing on informing the general public what hate speech or hate crime are, as well as assist those who have become victims of hate speech, both legally and therapeutically.

The project is financed by the EU in partnership with the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security, the Malta Police Force, the Academy for Disciplined Forces, the Agency for Protection of Persons Seeking Asylum (AWAS), the Director for Integration and Equality, the Commission for the Rights of Disabled Persons and Victims Support Europe.

Farrugia said that the Unit will begin an educational campaign for people to understand the consequences of certain online behaviour and to emphasise that hate speech is illegal in Malta. He commented that the large majority of hate speech or crimes are Maltese. In 2016, SOS Malta published a poll focusing on the experience of victims of hate speech and hate crime, from their perspective. The poll showed that around 34 per cent have been victims of hate speech, whilst another 8 per cent have been victims of hate crime, and another 24 per cent were victims of other forms of prejudice. According to the victims interviewed, the main reasons that push people to perform hate speech or hate crimes is due to nationality (21.6 per cent) political opinion (17.6 per cent) and religion (14.7 per cent).