In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, the Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia ruled that an article published on NET News misrepresented a parliamentary response by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri regarding police action against individuals wearing swimwear, or dressed indecently in public streets.

Farrugia ruled that the article's headline was inaccurate and instructed the editor of the portal to correct the title of the article.

On Monday, Camilleri requested a ruling from the Speaker with regards to the NETnews article which said that the police did not take action with regards to persons dressed indecently in public spaces.

The article quoted parliamentary questions asked by PN MP Graziella Galea to Camilleri, saying that when replying to Galea's questions on whether the police has taken action against such persons who are dressed indecently in Malta and Gozo's roads, and what action was taken, the Minister said that the police force should focus more on its core police duties, and that he did not believe that the police should serve as a morality police.

Camilleri had said that later on, and they did add onto the same article that since 2024 till today, the police did take action against persons dressed indecently in public places, issuing 29 fines.

On Monday, Camilleri said that he was clear in his replies, that the police did take action, however, he said that this was "incorrect reporting," and requested a ruling.

The Speaker on Tuesday said that he reviewed the mentioned article the same day Camilleri raised the matter.

Farrugia reviewed the Minister's answers and also examined the Criminal Code, which states that anyone on the seashore or in any other public place, strips naked or it not decently dressed, is guilty of a contravention against public order.

He said that in relation to Galea's questions, not only did the police take action against individuals not decently dressed in public, but in fact took such action on 29 occasions.

Farrugia referred to another previous ruling regarding a point raised by then MP Censu Galea about media reports on parliamentary proceedings, which concerned an article in l-Orizzont.

He said that as stated in that ruling, the omission of detail may be deemed "an inaccurate or incomplete report and thus interpreted as a distorted report."

"In the case raised by Camilleri, the title of the article he referenced, 'The police are not taking action against people wearing swimwear in the streets,' certainly does not reflect the answer given in response to question 28346 on May 26, 2025, nor the subsequent reference to it in the answer to question 28557 on May 28," he said.

He said that while the article cited does mention the Minister's statement that there were 29 contraventions, its headline was misleading and not a faithful report of the parliamentary replies.

Therefore, Farrugia said that he will be informing the editor of the news portal in question that the headline should be corrected to reflect the answers provided.