Henley & Partners CEO Christian Kalin (right) had worked with SCL to influence elections around the world

The Maltese government has flat-out denied allegations from a British parliamentary committee investigating fake news that data mining firm SCL had advised the Labour Party for several years before the 2013 election.

A report drafted by the House of Commons select committee for digital, culture, media and sport says British MPs have “evidence” showing SCL had been advising the Labour Party for several years before the 2013 election. The evidence also allegedly shows that Henley & Partners CEO Christian Kalin actually contacted SCL to set up a meeting with then Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat back in June 2011.

The report links to a blogpost by Manuel Delia, published back in April, which makes the same allegations.

“The Government of Malta is disappointed with the release of the UK House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee interim report into fake news, which ironically contains false and unsubstantiated information, from anonymous websites, which were immediately and strongly denied by the Maltese Government,” the government said in a statement.

“The Committee links to a blog post by Manuel Delia, a Nationalist Party activist and blogger. That blog post makes a number of false assumptions and links facts using only supposition and irresponsible guesswork to spread malicious gossip. Not only does the blog fail to provide any evidence to back up its claims, it also fails to recognize the public denial of the accusations.”

“It is unfortunate that a report by a UK House of Commons Committee in to ‘fake news’ has fallen victim itself to purveyors of unsubstantiated rumours and speculation.”

“It was categorically denied by the parties involved that SCL and/or [sister company] Cambridge Analytica had been advising the Labour Party ‘for several years before the 2013 elections’, or that such services were provided before, during, or after those elections in Malta.”

The government confirmed it has made its representations to the chair and members of the House of Commons committee, while Foreign Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela has complained directly to his UK counterpart Jeremy Hunt.

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]