There are many aspects of this country that I find fascinating, but one that I find particularly peculiar is our inability to understand satire. 

Yesterday the courts handed down a judgement that can only be described as a tragicomic farce in which a man found himself slapped with a €10,000 fine for the grave crime of posting a meme in a Facebook group called “Uncensored Jokes Malta”.

The meme depicted an unidentified person with Down Syndrome, with a caption stating: “Website is Down” “Oooh, me too!”

The young man was charged with committing a hate crime, discriminating against people with a disability and the totally-not-vague-and-confusing crime of misusing electronic equipment. 

As it turned out, the post predated the introduction of disability to Malta’s hate crime law and the provision of the Equal Opportunities Act he was accused of breaching has since been removed. 

In the end, they got him on the improper use of electronic equipment. For posting a meme in a group intended for the posting of memes. 

Let’s dissect this, shall we? The act of posting a meme – a digital form of expression as ubiquitous as the air we breathe – has been deemed “improper use” of electronic equipment. One can’t help but wonder if our esteemed magistrate used a compass to navigate to this quite absurd decision. 

The internet is awash with satire, dark humour, and yes, memes that push boundaries. It’s called the 21st century, perhaps we should all get acquainted.

Really, since when did the bench turn into an authority on social trends and viral memes? The online world is a cacophony of voices, some humorous, some satirical, and some downright offensive. But who are we, or rather, who is the magistrate, to draw the line on what the appropriate way to use social media is or what constitutes comedic expression? The judgement boldly declares that the meme was not an expression of comedy or culture. It’s almost as if the magistrate has appointed herself the arbiter of humour in the digital age. Forget the thousands upon thousands of disability memes on every conceivable platform with thousands of views, comments and likes. The magistrate is certain that there is no cultural expression here. 

Literally any type of content is available on the internet, you just need to know where to look for it. It is also pretty easy to know which corners of the web to avoid if you’re easily offended or disturbed. This shouldn’t be this complicated. 

The reference to hate crimes in the judgement is as perplexing as it is alarming. Memes, distasteful as they may be, are not a call to arms. To label them as such is not just a misunderstanding of the law but a complete misunderstanding of the world we are living in. We’ve seen more elements of hate and political rhetoric in judgments handed down by some of the magistrate’s colleagues than in a meme by an unknown digital dweller. It’s a slippery slope, and one that we tread at our peril.

In a twist of irony, or perhaps a satirical plot turn, the decision comes weeks after the government came out in defence of satirists who had been reported to the police by cult leader Gordon Manche. In a positive, if half-baked attempt to address the issue, an amendment was passed to Malta’s laws, including the provision that this young man was found guilty of, which effectively says that the law does not apply to statements published “as part of artistic, satirical, comic or cultural expression”.

Fast forward a few months, and here we are, witnessing a magistrate arbitrarily fine someone €10,000 for a meme. While the updated law might not apply retroactively, levying a fine of this magnitude for something the legislator has just safeguarded is a comedic display of judicial misunderstanding. 

So, weeks after the government sought to reassure content creators and members of the public that they would not be unfairly targeted for expressing themselves, we now have a magistrate reintroducing a cloud of uncertainty over the digital landscape. 

And if things weren’t absurd enough, the judgement was received with great applause by Disability Minster Julia Farrugia Portelli. Sadly for us all, much like the magistrate, Farrugia Portelli does not seem to fully understand the nature of her role.