Tag: SLAPP
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No media reform is valuable without the principle of litigation symmetry
Yesterday, EPP and PN MEP David Casa made a very valid point on the media reform that the government wants to bulldoze forward without any consultation. David Casa said that EU anti-SLAPP law should be incorporated into local law to reflect local cases, but I would go even further. David Casa’s proposals also align with…
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David Calls calls on government to embed EU Anti-SLAPP Directive in local law
EPP and PN MEP David Casa is calling on the government to embed the EU’s anti-SLAPP legislation more extensively into local law, not simply by transposing the Directive, but also by extending it to domestic cases. This would mean that procedural protections available in cross-border SLAPP cases would also apply when both the claimant and…
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We have started our legal campaign to push back against SLAPP action
Following the extensive SLAPP action against us, resulting in the suspension of our Google AdSense and Instagram accounts, we have begun our legal campaign to address this action. We have made multiple reports to the relevant authorities, and we have also sent official legal letters to the online platforms, which should arrive in the coming…
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Alkagesta issues a statement and demands us to apologise
Alkagesta is taking further SLAPP action in its one-year long systematic campaign of legal warfare against The Maltese Herald. They have now issued a statement on their website demanding that we apologise and to pull down the articles about the company, while accusing us of conducting a campaign against them on behalf of their competitors.…
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NGO Repubblika demand more anti-SLAPP legislation in their latest manifesto
Earlier this week, civil-society NGO Repubblika released their manifesto called Democratic Vision 2050: Truth, Memory and Freedom. The manifesto focuses on 14 main themes stretching from governance to human rights and include the crisis in rule-of-law and constitutional reform. Among the proposals being made by Repubblika are proposals to strengthen Maltese press freedom and the…
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Italy, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey lead Europe in rising libel suits against journalists and activists in 2023
In its yearly report, the Coalition Against SLAPPS in Europe documented that in 2023 Italy, Romania, Serbia and Turkey lead Europe in rising libel suits against journalists and activists. The report identifies and presents statistics on the action taken to silence journalists and activists via various legal means (strategic lawsuit against public participation). Most SLAPPs…
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The European Parliament approves its anti-SLAPP Directive dubbed as “Daphne’s law”
The European Parliament has today approved with amendments, and an overwhelming majority, the European Commission’s proposed anti-SLAPP directive, dubbed by its authors and MEPs who lobbied for it as “Daphne’s law” in memory of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Before she was murdered, Daphne Caruana Galizia faced a historic number of libel suits. The law concerns transnational…
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The proposed government reforms of the press DO NOT bar foreign SLAPP cases
Mathew Vella, the previous editor of MaltaToday before Kurt Sansone, is being sued in a Spanish court along with MaltaToday over his reporting of the Steward public hospital deals in Malta. Steward Healthcare is registered in Spain and decided to institute court proceedings in Spain, but I highly doubt whether the case will hold in…
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Malta is the second highest country in Europe after Poland with SLAPP cases against journalists
Poland is the highest country with SLAPP cases against journalists in Europe followed by Malta. The report was compiled by the Daphne Foundation and can be found here. Most of the cases are started by politicians, followed by businesspeople, and most of the cases are related to allegations of corruption. Mark CamilleriWebsite Editor Historian and…
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New EU anti-SLAPP law will ban SLAPP in the EU
The European Parliament has just approved a very signfiicant anti-SLAPP law which provides the right of jurisdictions to refuse recognition of foreign judgements on defamation and libel cases. The law also introduces provisions that oblige the plaintiffs to pay the defendant’s legal fees and even to com-pensate them if the libel case is lost. You…
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Reversal of the press reform should see complete change of the bill
It is good news that the Prime Minister has finally decided to pause the press reform instead of bulldozing it in parliament. This pause comes literally just a couple of days after Justice Minister Jonathan went on a TV program and bragged and insisted that the government had made extensive consultation before presenting its bill…
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The Maltese Government is going to enact SLAPP laws in Malta in its forced press reform
The Justice Minister and previous ONE propagandist, Jonathan Attard has just held a press conference where he gave to the public a litany of lies about a very deceiving press reform. The minister has announced that he will be presenting the bill to parliament as it is without handing it over to public consultation first.…