Malta’s Hate Speech Laws Are Just There For Politicians To Use Against Citizens
Whenever Malta passed new hate speech legislation, the reasoning has always been that it was a necessary tool to shield minorities from discrimination.
It was meant to grant some power to regular citizens against potential campaigns to turn them into social pariahs for reasons they cannot control.
However, over time it has become clear to me that the very concept of hate speech has been turned completely on its head. Rather than a shield for regular citizens against powerful people, the law is being used as a weapon by powerful people against regular citizens and it’s having a chilling effect on free speech.
And a look at the “hate speech” being taken to Malta’s court shows how the jury is still out on the hatefulness of the speech
1. In one of the most egregious recent cases, Luke Mihalic was fined €10,000 – reduced to €1,000 on appeal – for joking about people with Down’s Syndrome in a private Facebook group.
Inclusion Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli
When the young man was hit with his original €10,000 fine, Inclusion Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli brazenly said that “justice has been served”.
But similar cases are occurring constantly, and across the political spectrum, against people who post mean, rude but non-threatening comments online.
2. Only last week, a 68-year-old man was fined €150 after the police hauled him to court for describing Valletta Cultural Agency chair Jason Micallef as “dirty” and a “trash can full of rubbish” on Facebook.
3. On the same day, another man was fined €150 for writing a Facebook comment telling PN MP Jerome Caruana Cilia to “stand in front of a moving truck”.
They are not the only ones to instigate such charges, just two very recent examples.
4. It’s not just ‘PLPN’ either. Arnold Cassola recently reported a man to the police for posting the dancing pallbearers meme, along with a photo of the independent candidate and the words “RIP Cassola”. Police promptly brought charges against the memer.
To be clear, this is not to say that I agree with the comments against Micallef and Caruana Cilia, but there is a world of difference between something that is morally wrong and something that is legally wrong.
The moment the state gets involved in speech crimes and starts policing what is acceptable discourse and what is illegal, it could well be the start of a slippery slope to silence critics and non-conformists.
And when the range of acceptable discourse shrinks, comments that were once considered moderate will eventually be seen as extreme. At this rate, any regular citizen who posts a nasty or critical comment about a powerful person online will risk getting called into the police station and summoned to court.
For the sake of protecting free speech, we need a serious discussion about amending and clarifying our hate speech laws, and the way police should handle these complaints.
Should Malta update its hate speech laws?
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