Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/464575
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 18 FEBRUARY 2015 8 JAMES DEBONO IN the space of a year the internet habits of the Maltese have changed radically, according to a Euroba- rometer survey conducted in Octo- ber and published last week. The survey shows that since 2013 the percentage of Maltese inter- net users from a smartphone has increased by 32 points while the number of those who access the internet from a touchscreen tablet have increased by 20 points. The percentage of Maltese inter- net users who buy goods and serv- ices on-line has increased by eight points while the number of those who watch TV on the internet has gone up by a staggering 14 points. The Maltese are now more likely than the average European to use the internet to buy goods and serv- ices, but less likely to use the inter- net to sell goods and services. While only 15% of Maltese use the internet to sell goods or services, 23% of all EU citizens do likewise. The percentage of Maltese who sell on-line has only increased by one point. While 68% of the Maltese use the internet to buy goods and services, only 57% of all EU citizens do like- wise. The Maltese are more likely to use the internet to access social net- works than most other Europeans. While 73% of the Maltese (up eight points over 2013) use the internet to access social networks, only 60% of EU citizens use the internet for the same purpose. At least half of internet users in every member state use online so- cial networks, and the highest pro- portions can be observed in Por- tugal (76%), Denmark (74%), Latvia (73%) and Malta (73%). The largest segment (81%) of Mal- tese use the internet to read emails. 38% of Maltese use the internet to play games while 41% use it to watch TV. Only 29% Europeans use the in- ternet to play games while 22% use it to watch TV. The percentage of Maltese who use the internet to watch TV has in- creased by 17 points over 2013. Internet users in Greece (44%), Cyprus (43%), Portugal (41%) and Austria (40%) and Malta (38%) are most likely to say that they play games online. Encountering racism and extremism The Maltese are the second most likely in Europe to accidentally en- counter material promoting racial hatred and religious extremism while surfing the internet. The percentage of Maltese who reported such material increased by 13 percentage points since 2013. This was the highest increase regis- tered in Europe. But they are also the second least likely to report such material to the police or their internet service pro- vider. While 55% of respondents from all EU countries would report such content to the police, only 38% of Maltese respondents would report such content to the police. Respondents in Cyprus (38%), Malta (34%), the Netherlands (34%) and Estonia (32%) were the more likely to say that they would not contact anyone if faced with such content. Across the EU as a whole, 14% of Internet users say that they have accidentally encountered mate- rial which promotes racial hatred or religious extremism. This figure is generally consistent across differ- ent member states. Respondents in Sweden (28%), Malta (25%) and Ro- mania (24%) are most likely to say that they have accidentally encoun- tered this type of material, while the lowest proportion can be found in Greece (7%). Overall in the EU there has been no change since 2013 in the propor- tion of those who have accidentally encountered material which pro- motes racial hatred or religious ex- tremism. News The percentage of Maltese inter- net users who buy goods and serv- ices on-line has increased by eight points while the number of those who watch TV on the internet has while surfing the internet. The percentage of Maltese who reported such material increased by 13 percentage points since 2013. This was the highest increase regis- Huge increase in smartphone use Maltese are the second most likely in Europe to accidentally encounter material promoting racial hatred and religious extremism while surfing the internet Devices used (% of internet users) 2013 2014 Computer 97 92 Touchscreen tablet 16 36 Smartphone 28 60 Television 4 8 Used for (% of internet users) 2013 2014 Online Banking 58 58 Buying goods and services 60 68 Selling goods and services 14 15 Using online social networks 65 73 Email 83 81 Reading news 66 71 Playing online games 33 38 Watching TV 24 41 On the sale of souls for votes Raphael Vassallo's article "Souls for Sale", in Maltatoday's edition of last Wednesday, 11 February, was brought to my attention. I feel duty bound to correct the gross misrepresentation of the truth in Mr Vassallo's article. Mr Vassallo chose to interpret my March 2013 election day email to the Valletta monti hawkers as signifying their operating by now from the "exact same slot, that is Ordinance Street, between the ruined opera house and Piano's Parliament extravaganza that the PN is now sworn to defend from a barbarian invasion of hamallagni". This is unadulterated falsehood. He is also factually incorrect when writing that my email was only leaked recently. Since facts are sacred, allow me to state the facts which cannot be contested, as can be verified by the email I myself showed to the media at the end of May 2013. Yes, the undersigned, in May 2013, showed it to The Times of Malta journal- ist, who reported its contents on 29 May, 2013, since I had and have nothing to hide. On election day 2013, early after- noon, monti hawkers called me to ask about the PN's position in view of the written, and hidden, agree- ment they had signed with Joseph Muscat and the PL a mere 48 hours before. As a result of this Faustian pact, kept hidden and signed in stealth in the afternoon of the last day of the election campaign by the Labour Party, the most trans- parent party in our history, I was informed that Joseph Muscat had bound his party in government to relocate them to the area between the ruined opera house and Piano's parliament building. Stunned, I immediately re- plied on the phone that this was madness and that the PN could never accept hawkers next door to Piano's project. Their reply was that whether we liked it or not, they had obtained this written commitment from Labour and so they wanted to know whether the PN would promise them that par- ticular spot in Piano's project since otherwise they would be voting for Muscat. I retorted back: "Then go ahead and vote Labour. We will not sell our souls for your votes." After verifying and getting the endorse- ment from higher authority a few moments later, I emailed that the most we could contemplate was a relocation to the lower part of Ordinance Street, only on these conditions: a) they could only oc- cupy the lower part of that Street, certainly not a centimetre beyond the corner with Republic Street, b) all the stalls had to fit in that area, no matter what, c) they could not be permanent, d) I reiterated that under no circumstance could we have them in the area adjacent to the new Parliament, e) all the hawkers had to accept these condi- tions. All these conditions are listed in the email I wrote and which I myself revealed in May 2013, a mere two months after the elec- tion. This is why I cannot accept this gross misrepresentation of the truth. Interestingly, at no point whatso- ever does Mr Vassallo take Joseph Muscat to task for his backroom deal two days before election day or even ask Joseph Muscat to pub- lish his written agreement with the hawkers, kept under wraps from the electorate to date and whose existence has not been denied by Muscat. I trust I have put the record straight for the benefit of your readers. Jason Azzopardi MP Tarxien Letters Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted.