Parliamentary Secretary for Equality and Reforms Rebecca Buttigieg believes that the country should have stronger laws to combat social media abuse.

She made these remarks while present for a conference held at the University of Malta by the Gender Equality and Diversity Committee, in collaboration with the Department of Gender & Sexuality within the Faculty for Social Wellbeing.

Amongst the themes discussed in this conference was that women in politics are more prone to be the targets of derogatory words and psychological violence, compared to their male counterparts.

PS Buttigieg stated that this problem could be one of the present obstacles preventing more women from participating in politics and public life.

During her discourse, she added that she herself has been the target of such attacks.

The Parliamentary Secretary said that this is causing a "democratic deficit" as women's voices continue to be stifled, causing a gender imbalance.

She observed that many of these attacks occur through social media. Hence, she called for Malta to strengthen its laws against abuses occurring on these online platforms. Buttigieg commented that Malta is not alone in facing this issue; this is also present in other foreign countries such as England, Australia, and Germany.

Buttigieg noted that the amount of abusive content online, across the internet, has increased rapidly and will continue to do so through the continued rise of artificial intelligence. She said that often times, women and children are the greatest victims to online abuse.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms said that these issues are on the Government's agenda. As such, there are plans in place to convene a national conference between IT experts, professionals from the social sector, educators, parents, and other stakeholders, to discuss practical solutions to these issues.