As Parliament prepares to debate amendments to anti-SLAPP – Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation – legislation this afternoon, the Institute of Maltese Journalists is calling on MPs to vote in favour of proposals presented by the Opposition that would extend protection for journalists and others against legal intimidation.
While the new legal notice, which was introduced to transpose the EU anti-SLAPP directive, only affords protection against lawsuits filed in foreign courts and of a transnational nature, amendments proposed by the Opposition would add that protection should extend to SLAPP cases initiated in Maltese courts—a move the IĠM thinks necessary.
These amendments also propose increasing sanctions against individuals who file SLAPP lawsuits, raising potential fines from a maximum of €10,000 to between €10,000 and €100,000. The IĠM also agrees with this, since it will better deter people from using such frivolous litigation in an attempt to intimidate journalists into silence.
The Institute also pointed out that the government’s anti-SLAPP legal notice, brought in last year, satisfies only the minimum standard of the EU directive. Such protection, however, needs to be strengthened further according to the IĠM, in order for genuine press freedom to be guaranteed.
Apart from SLAPP reforms, the IĠM also reiterated about the Government’s commitment to publish a White Paper on broader media reforms involving proposed changes to the Constitution, the Media and Defamation Act, the Criminal Code, and other laws. This, although promised in October 2023, has not materialised yet, for which the IĠM shows disappointment.
While these very important amendments are being debated in Parliament, the IĠM claimed that it has confirmed its presence in the chamber to follow the discussion in the best interest of the journalism sector.
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