Repubblika on Wednesday raised the alarm that government is risking "turning back the clock" on advances made for freedom of speech following comments given by the Prime Minister on Tuesday regarding legislation related to criminal libel,

Repubblika said that the most worrying part of the Prime Minister's comments was that he refused to say who he was referring to and instead wants the powers to decide who is a journalist and who isn't, who deserves the protection of the law and who doesn't, and who is 'good' and 'bad'.

It said that if the Prime Minister believes that the current laws aren't enough to remedy those who feel libelled, he should say to which circumstance he is referring and give examples of statements or articles which, if it were up to him, he would send to the police to prosecute their authors.

Repubblika said that if the Prime Minister doesn't do this, then he would be attacking free speech. It said that it agrees that reforms must be made, however they must be reforms that strengthen, not damage, freedom of speech. Journalists should be free to report what those in power wish to hide without fear of persecution. 

Repubblika said that even murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was said to be part of a "bad" clique that was breaking people despite the fact that she was right and that "those who mocked her knew she was right." It said that the criteria the Prime Minister gave yesterday during a question time were "terrifying".

Repubblika said that seven years since Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination, not only have no reforms have been implemented for the protection of journalists, as recommended by the public inquiry, but the Labour Party is threatening to turn back the clock to pave way for the return of criminal libel. 

The Institute of Maltese Journalists (IĠM) said that it “was, is and will remain against the notion of criminal libel.”

“It is regrettable that singular exponents of the Labour Party have resuscitated the idea of reintroducing criminal libel after it was the Labour government that removed it from the statute books in 2018,” the institute said.

IĠM said that it hopes that these singular voices are just that and are not representative of a wider push within the Labour Party to do a U-turn on criminal libel.

“Criminal libel has a chilling effect on free speech and journalists because of the threat of imprisonment and has often been used in the past in a vexatious way by politicians and others to silence journalists. Malta should not return to such a state, and instead the country should be implementing reforms to offer journalists greater protection and to strengthen freedom of expression,” it said.

 

The IĠM said that it expects an unequivocal declaration from the government that it does not intend to reintroduce criminal libel or increase penalties for civil libel. “The clock should not be turned back.”