OPM’s actions add another media freedom alert to Malta’s list

Prime Minister Robert Abela’s actions have triggered another media freedom alert following the demands made on The Shift in court.

The demand to reveal this newsroom’s donors and contributors was made in the libel case initiated by The Shift. Founder and editor Caroline Muscat sued Abela for defamation following his unsubstantiated claim that “90%” of this website’s content is “false”, the Prime Minister’s lawyer requested disclosure of the donors who support our journalism.

The request, which will be adjudicated by Magistrate Joseph Gatt on 24 June, was classified as a media freedom alert by the team behind the cross-border Mapping Media Freedom initiative.

Prior to the latest threat to violate the protection of journalistic sources, Abela’s original “fake news” claim was previously flagged as an act of harassment intended to discredit an independent portal.

On Abela’s watch, the government has failed to live up to its promised implementation of a raft of recommendations which were made in the wake of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination.

Though international press freedom organisations continue to renew their pressure on Abela’s administration over nagging delays in the government’s so-called “media reform”, the Prime Minister’s ongoing use of taxpayer money to shield himself from the consequences of his own public statements send an unequivocal message.

In fact, over six months have passed since five international organisations were last consulted by the government on its “reform”. To date, no official updates have been issued on the subject.

Those organisations include the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the International Press Institute (IPI).

The Shift’s ongoing libel case against the Prime Minister is only one of multiple instances which exposed the government’s contempt for the free press and, by extension, its need to control the flow of information.

In March, The Shift’s reporting triggered another media freedom alert after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request confirmed that former TVM host Reno Bugeja was appointed as a member of PBS’ editorial board while also making €70,000 as the communications advisor of Parliamentary Secretary for Equality Rebecca Buttigieg.

The Prime Minister’s conduct also caught the attention of the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, a coalition of European organisations known particularly for its annual rule of law report.

In its latest report, which was published last month, the Union explicitly called out the Prime Minister for his public attacks on both the free press and the judiciary, with international experts agreeing that Malta’s democratic standards are in active decline.