Prime Minister attempts to force disclosure of The Shift’s donors and contributors

After publicly declaring that The Shift’s news articles are “90% fake”, Prime Minister Robert Abela is now attempting to force this newsroom to publicly disclose its donors and contributors in court, an unprecedented standoff between an independent portal and the country’s highest office.

The request for disclosure, submitted in court by the Prime Minister’s lawyer, Pawlu Lia, was made during libel proceedings filed by The Shift after Abela described this portal as “a fake news blog that specialises in reporting falsehoods”, explicitly adding that “90% of what they report contains falsehoods”.

In January last year, Prime Minister Robert Abela claimed that his ministers were being investigated because “there is a fake news blog, The Shift News, which specialises in reporting falsehoods” and that The Shift’s “only agenda” was to “promote falsehood and evil”.

Subsequently, The Shift’s founder and editor, Caroline Muscat, sued Abela for defamation on two counts: a trade libel filed on behalf of the company that runs the news portal and a civil libel filed by Muscat in her personal capacity.

The Prime Minister’s baseless claim set off alarm bells among international press freedom circles and was registered as a threat by the Mapping Media Freedom coalition.

Following a few months of relative silence after the last hearing was deferred, a new magistrate, Joseph Gatt, took over the case, and proceedings resumed on 17 April.

In Friday’s hearing, the Prime Minister’s lawyer insisted on requesting more information about The Shift’s donors and contributors, describing it as evidence that must be submitted for the defence to establish whether The Shift’s funding was directly affected by the Prime Minister’s claim.

This request was made in addition to The Shift’s submission of four years’ worth of financial accounts. The editor is steadfastly refusing to reveal its sources.

“The plaintiff is saying that these donors are journalistic sources and are therefore protected by confidentiality, when these are commercial sources who contribute to the company. I need this information to establish the damages they claim to have suffered,” Lia said.

Lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona rebutted: “In Malta’s particular journalistic climate, exposing the source of your supporters is tantamount to exposing sources for stories. That is unacceptable under the Media Defamation Act.”

Though Lia had already asked the court to rule on his request during the last hearing, the case’s transfer to a new magistrate means a decree on the matter is yet to be issued.

During the hearing, Lia repeatedly accused The Shift of writing “sensationalist headlines” to extract as much revenue as possible and of “fomenting hatred”, effectively reiterating his client’s baseless claim in open court without presenting any evidence to prove it.

Meanwhile, The Shift has provided evidence of the government’s campaign targeting the editor and the threats made against her.

“The Prime Minister is clearly using this case to gain information on The Shift’s donors and contributors, which we will never reveal. Meanwhile, his lawyer has not presented a shred of evidence to support Robert Abela’s claim that ‘90% of what The Shift reports contains falsehoods’,” The Shift’s editor said.

She added that, in its eight years of operations, The Shift has had to swim against the current, with the government continually attempting to silence the investigative news portal.

“They included 40 legal challenges filed against us to stop our Freedom of Information requests. We survived thanks to our determination and the trust of our readers, whom we thank. That is the trust placed in what we do. And our track record of reports that led to magisterial inquiries, investigations by the National Audit Office and the Standards Commissioner proves that what we do is not fake.”

The Office of the Prime Minister is now set to formally resubmit the request for disclosure by the end of next month, ahead of the next hearing scheduled for 24 June.