NGO Repubblika has said it has "no intention of retreating or restraining its voice" in the face of what it described as a "campaign of intimidation, dehumanisation and hostility" by Labour Party media against civil society activists and government critics, as former president Robert Aquilina filed a police report over a "dehumanising" image depicting him.
In a statement, Repubblika said that, in recent weeks following the general election, it had witnessed "an almost daily campaign" in Labour Party media directed against civil society activists, non-governmental organisations and people who express critical views of the government.
The NGO said this was not the first time such attacks had happened, but added that "there appears to be a systematic effort not merely to criticise or disagree with dissenting voices, but to dehumanise them, ridicule them, and portray them as enemies of the country."
Repubblika said groups declaring loyalty to the Labour Party were creating artificial intelligence-generated images to humiliate individuals, naming Aquilina, Jason Azzopardi, Vicki Ann Cremona, Manuel Delia, Ranier Fsadni and Kevin Cassar, among others.
It said these images echoed the rhetoric of Labour Party official media, which it said attributed to the same individuals words they never said, while coordinated social media campaigns encouraged personal attacks and hatred.
The organisation said this was taking place as Malta was again being confronted with questions about the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the need for full justice.
It said many of those being targeted today were the same individuals and organisations that have, for years, insisted that the full truth about the assassination must emerge and that everyone responsible be held accountable.
Repubblika said it remembered how Caruana Galizia was treated while alive, saying there were those who sought to discredit, mock, isolate and strip her of dignity.
"Those methods did not end with her," the NGO said.
Separately, Aquilina wrote to Police Assistant Commissioner Kevin Arnaud and specialist Sean Scicluna to formally bring to the police's attention an image published online about him on Labour's media arm, ONE News.
In his report, Aquilina said the image formed part of what he described as a process carried out for years by the Labour Party, its members and followers, through which he said he had been and continued to be dehumanised, while a climate of hatred and violence was fomented against him.
He said the report was being made for protection purposes and so that, if police concluded that any offence had been committed, the necessary steps would be taken for prosecution.
Aquilina also asked that the police investigate not only the image itself, but what he described as a coordinated criminal design by the Labour Party to dehumanise him and foment threats, hatred and violence against him.
Repubblika said that, in a democracy, the legitimacy of a voice does not depend on how many people stand behind it, and that winning an election does not give anyone the right to silence critics.
The NGO also referred to the government's planned legislation regulating voluntary organisations, saying that asking to see the contents of a law directly affecting civil society organisations was "the most basic aspect of democratic consultation."
Repubblika said civil society is not a political party and does not exist to replace political parties, but to give citizens a voice, challenge abuses of power, demand accountability and safeguard democratic principles.
"We will continue this work. Because we believe in it. Because we know it is necessary. And because Malta needs a civil society that is free, courageous, and independent," Repubblika said.