Expats Malta Admin Defends Banning Policy After Facing Barrage Of Criticism
Expats Malta administrator Tom Erik Skjønsberg has defended his group’s banning policy after an interview led to a barrage of criticism that he is kicking out people for no legitimate reason.
After Skjønsberg was interviewed by the Times of Malta, stating that he wants the group to serve as a platform for people to speak their minds, many people offered a different interpretation.
“It’s easier to speak something against Kim in North Korea on national TV than to confront your opinion against this guy’s opinion,” one person snarky commented.
“Freedom of speech has a completely different meaning to this gentleman and it needs to abide by one single rule: you need to be aligned with his thoughts. If you’re not and you speak out, then you’re out,” a Maltese man said.
A Maltese woman warned that Maltese people who speak their mind about the current situation in Malta are either removed from the group or have their comments removed with a note “Go join your Patrijotti friends.”
Some foreign nationals criticised the group too, with a Macedonian man warning Skjønsberg removes people who disagree with his opinion and a Serbian woman stating he is “kind of forcing people to agree with his opinion” and removing those who don’t.
When Lovin Malta contacted Skjønsberg to get his take on the criticism, the Expats Malta admin warned that critics were being selective.
“I would say that people might tend to either leave out some parts, or not elaborate on what they were saying,” he said.
“My personal opinions don’t play a part in enforcing the group rules. Not all of them will have been banned by me either. The admin team consist of four people who monitor posts and comments.”
He said that a person who commented under the Times article said he was kicked out of the group for “speaking their mind” when what they actually said was that “Malta should kick out all those dirty and disgusting Asians who come here and make the country a filthy dump because that is how they are”.
“Other than that, I don’t have any comments,” he said. “Our group rules are public, and something members agree on when they join. I know that ‘us vs. them; will give plenty of clicks, but there is no such thing from my side. People don’t get blocked ‘for disagreeing’. It’s that simple.”
Cover photo: Tom Erik Skjønsberg (Facebook)
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