Ministers and parliamentary secretaries who used public funds to promote posts on their personal Facebook pages should return the money to the state to be used for supporting the press, the Maltese Institute of Journalists (IĠM) has proposed.

“We call for the public funds used by Ministers to raise their own personal and political profiles to be given back to the state, which in turn could be better used by supporting the traditional media,” the IĠM said.

“This would be a clear signal that the government wants to break away from past malpractices and enhance the fourth pillar within democracy.”

Yesterday, Commissioner for Standards in Public Life George Hyzler published a report which flagged the rampant use of public funds and resources to produce content specifically for ministers’ personal Facebook pages and to boost content on their pages so they can reach a wider audience.

Since then, the government has agreed to abide by a new set of standards whereby public funds and resources can only be used on official ministry social media pages and not on the personal pages of the individual ministers.

The IĠM warned that the investigation also showed how politicians are using public funds to publish political statements in a forum where they cannot be challenged and scrutinised by the media.

“The commissioner’s report highlights the need to initiate a national discussion on the role of the media and how this vital sector within our democracy must be safeguarded financially, while keeping its independence,” it said. “A study on a more constructive use of social media by the authorities and politicians should also be commissioned.”

“Dr Hyzler’s report is also a clear example of how the media is fundamental for our democracy, as this malpractice was flagged by one of our country’s media outlets [Lovin Malta].”