Bringing order to the world of free expression

I never cease wondering at the sheer stupidity and lack of foresight of those who govern us.

This latest foray into free expression made possible by the internet and its wonderful opportunities that can make each one of us an editor and that enable us to have an instant, worldwide, audience when before we had to have a proper newspaper which needed a proper printing press and a distribution network, etc., is a case in point.

The internet and its ramifications are by their very nature, free. Only Communist China, to my knowledge, and satellites such as North Korea, have been successful in keeping an entire people away from the harmful influences of the internet – and the free diffusion of uncensored news, free exchange of opinions that results.

So when Owen Bonnici and Evarist Bartolo spearheaded a bill that touched on the very delicate subject of websites, blogs etc., I was not surprised at all, especially with regard to Evarist who, on top of everything else teaches media studies at university, given the Communist antecedents.

That they did it in a knee-jerk reaction after the Daphne Caruana Galizia claims about Chris Cardona, the latter’s garnishee orders and the popular reaction which told the minister where to get off, shows stupidity to an infinite degree. In fact, the minute DCG’s name came up in the press briefing, the game was up and the issue became partisan.

All the government’s subsequent twists and turns to iron out some kinks and to explain away others have not removed the population’s perception that this was all a ‘stop Daphne at all costs’ move.

There the matter stands so far. We can now expect a lengthy, vituperative, parliamentary debate, followed by the refusal of some, or many, journalists to conform to the law’s requirements, countless court cases and appeals to European courts. I can’t say the government deserves any less. Owen and Varist deserve the prize for leading the government along this path.

I cannot say they are alone in this. They are in the splendid company of Donald Trump and his fulminations against what he calls fake news and the coming no-holds-barred battle with media giants, which include CNN and The New York Times among others. From the shores of this small island in the Med, we will watch how the battle on that side of the world continues and develops.

Owen and Varist were carried away by the forces inside Labour smarting at the drubbing Chris Cardona and his battle-axe tactics got from one solitary woman with one solitary website and lost sight of what can still be done without creating all this uncertainty and threats to free expression of public opinion.

The internet and its ramifications are, by definition, free. To introduce checks and controls goes against its nature and distorts it. So the battle in this direction is lost even before it begins. And, to be honest, it is an uneven battle. But not all is lost, unless one is incredibly stupid.

Up to some years ago, it used to be said that articles on the internet could not be sued for libel. There were all kinds of arguments put forward that the internet was free and could be shared by all. Then some argued that one would not know the address of anyone who wrote on the internet. Nowadays it is common to find posts on the internet sued for libel and cases where for example pictures have been taken off an internet page sued for property rights infringements.

Where Varist and Owen went completely astray was on the matter of insisting on registration, even though they later backtracked to compare it with press registration. In the minds of many Maltese, permits bring back memories when you needed a permit to get a telephone, a TV set, import licences and so on. All that generated monumental corruption (and some big name companies we have today are the direct results of this licence corruption). It is one of the glories of the Nationalist Party that, on coming to power in 1987, it swept away all needs for licences and paying backhanders. The late 1980s and 1990s spurt of growth was the direct and immediate result.

Had the government not gone down this road, it could have realized that other ways were open and an agreement with the Opposition was possible. Now it may be too late for that.

Whatever happens in Parliament, we are in great danger as the election nears. Already the social media, Facebook espe- cially, originating in Malta are being filled with anti-migrant posts originating elsewhere. There is an entire industry generating fake stories, using real scenes but giving them a completely different context and interpretation. Breibtbart News recently reported that a thousand young migrants had attacked police in Dortmund, shouting Allahu Akbar, waving Isis and al Qaeda flags and set fire to Germany’s oldest church.

In fact, some men had simply let off firecrackers to celebrate New Year’s Eve, there had been no assaults on police and a small fire on a piece of scaffolding had quickly been extinguished.

Angela Merkel’s CDU has presented an ‘action plan’ that would make it easier for users of Facebook and other platforms to register complaints about false content and have offending posts deleted. Victims of fake news would be entitled to know who wrote it and be granted a right of reply. Platforms that fail to comply would face hefty fines.

We could all learn from this. In fact, while we do get Right of Reply on papers, we rarely find them on blogs, Facebook etc. Operating in a free environment should not be an excuse to act irresponsibly.