NGO Repubblika on Tuesday organised a protest in solidarity with journalists after the recent spate of fake news articles and emails.

Addressing attendees, the NGO's President Robert Aquilina voiced his concerns about the misinformation trending on social media.

"A misinformed public that is not encouraged to find the truth, is a public that is condemned to making the wrong decisions at their own expense," Aquilina said.

Fake emails are being sent to newsrooms through a Czech fake mailer platform and a number of newsrooms have seen their websites spoofed in order to make it seem like they were carrying content which they hadn't actually written.

The police are said to be investigating the matter.

Aquilina said that the beauty of journalism lies in discussing topics which are uncomfortable for those in power. He added that the state has the obligation to protect all democratic values. "This can only be done by protecting the voices of journalists and activists. The recent attacks on journalists and activists in our country is unacceptable," he said.

Aquilina said that it will soon be the fourth year anniversary of the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Aquilina said that the State has to recognise the important role journalists and activists have in a healthy democracy. "Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered because of her journalistic work, the least we expect is for the state to recognise this fact," Aquilina said.

"It is important for the State, with all the resources it has, to protect journalists and activists. It can't be that we have a situation where, instead of launching investigations based on the content of news stories penned by journalists, instead of prosecutions in court, campaigns are launched to discredit those telling the truth," Aquilina said.

"We cannot accept any more barrages of attacks that we today know are coordinated by people with interests that are not in the common good."

"This can only be achieved by the State changing its attitude and taking note of what the public inquiry proposed."

"These attacks on journalists are to be considered as an act of violence and an even bigger attack on the democracy and the people of this country."

"We do not want another victim like Daphne Caruana Galizia. The truth will never be a victim in our country," Aquilina said in his closing statement.

Manuel Delia also spoke. He said that the effect of Daphne's murder was the opposite of what those who carried out the terror attack wanted.

"When you silence journalists by killing them or scaring them by murdering someone else, you deny people the truth. Without truth there is no free will. Without truth we would have a fake democracy."

He spoke about the reason journalists do their job, saying that it is not to get rich or be liked.

"There are those who still need to learn from the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia," he said. He appealed to the government to transparently implement the public inquiry recommendations.

Louiselle Vassallo said that this was a demonstration of solidarity,  and she expressed her solidarity with those who were the target of attacks these past weeks. "These were attacks that surely cost a lot of corrupt money."

"What is the price of lies? When a lie is repeated day after day, month after month, this starts to affect our visibility and creates obstacles to those who are looking for the truth."

The free press is the fourth pillar of democracy, she said,

"Thank God we have newsrooms that, despite persecution, remained persistent in publishing important articles."

She said that it is everyone's duty to keep informed about what happens in society, and said that people have a right to information which is based on investigation and facts.

Photos: Giuseppe Attard