Clarifications on press laws and online activities required - IT legal experts

The Maltese laws still fail to clearly distinguish between the original author and someone who, merely through the sharing of that information, might potentially make himself liable to criminal defamation, the Malta IT Law Association said.

MITLA said that with the widespread use of social networks and the ubiquitous nature of technology, every internet user has become an author and only a few are aware of the potential risks that presently exist when one shares defamatory statements or information written by others.

Joining media organisations – such as MaltaToday – who for years have been calling for the removal of criminal defamatory libel from statute books, MITLA said Malta should follow the examples of other jurisdictions (including the United Kingdom) which have completely revised the criminal law implications of defamatory libel.

“This discussion becomes even more relevant when one considers the ever-changing nature of the Internet and how citizens use such medium to share and impart information,” it said.

MITLA said a general re-hash of the Press Act should be seriously considered.

“Even though our Courts have in the past few years repeatedly extended the reach of the current version of the Press Act, and the definitions contained therein, to the Internet, a more detailed and clear law would indeed assist the judiciary in those cases where technological realties have pushed the boundaries of our appreciation of what we can and cannot do online into a legal grey area.”

MITLA said it will engage stakeholders in order to pro-actively initiate a wider discussion on these issues, not only with respect to matters that purely focus on technology and press law, but also in relation to freedom of expression in general.

“MITLA firmly believes that the abolition of criminal defamatory libel will help to keep democracy alive and promote responsible journalism.”