Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/754383
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 NOVEMBER 2016 News ON SELECTED LINES Sliema T. 2131 5122 | Valletta T. 2123 6717 | B'Kara T. 2149 4555 | Fgura T. 2180 5944 | Gozo T. 2156 0021 mothercaremalta www.mothercare.com.mt mothercare@camillerigroup.com Maltese intimidated by hate speech on social media 59% hesitate from commenting because of cases of online abuse against journalists, bloggers and commentators – 72% of Maltese have witnessed such abuse JAMES DEBONO 72% of the Maltese, compared to 54% of Europeans, have often or sometimes "heard, read, seen or experienced" hate speech or threats directed at journalists, bloggers and people who are ac- tive in the social media. This emerges from a European wide survey on media plural- ism conducted by the European Commission in September. Only 15% have never witnessed such behaviour, compared to 24% of citizens in all EU coun- tries. A further 12% of Maltese (compared to 21% of Europeans) said they have rarely witnessed such abuse. Moreover 59% of Maltese – compared to 48% of all Eu- ropeans – have said that such cases have made them hesitant to engage in online debate. Re- spondents in Malta and Estonia – nearly six in 10 – followed by Ireland and Luxembourg (both 57%) were the most likely to say that such cases make them hesi- tate to engage in online debates. Countries whose citizens were more likely to very often or sometimes witness abuse against online commentators include Denmark and the Netherlands (both 79%) and Sweden (77%). Austria is the only Member State where the majority of re- spondents take part in online political debates by posting comments on articles on the Internet, or through online so- cial networks or blogs (52%), followed by 45% in Finland and 39% in Sweden. At the other end of the scale, 19% of respondents in Estonia, Malta, Spain and France take part in such debates. 70% think public service media is exposed to pressure 70% of the Maltese believe that their public service media – namely public broadcasting – is not free from political pressure. Only 23% believe that Malta's public service media is free from such pressure. The same view is expressed by 60% of respondents hailing from all 28 EU member states. Only the Greeks (9%), the Spanish (20%) and the French (16%) were less likely to believe that their national media is free of politi- cal pressure. Only in seven Member States does a majority of respondents think their national public ser- vice media are free from po- litical pressure: Finland (65%), Sweden, the Netherlands (both 55%), Denmark (54%), Germany and Slovakia (both 50%) and Portugal (47%). Respondents in Greece (9%), France (16%) and Spain (20%) are the least likely to agree. The survey shows 34% of Brit- ish respondents believing that the BBC is free of political pres- sure and 33% of Italians believ- ing that the RAI is free from such pressures. Respondents in Slovenia, Greece (both 34%), Portugal and Lithuania (both 35%) were the least likely to share this opinion. Respondents in Malta and Cy- prus (both 47%) and the Nether- lands (44%) are the most likely to say their national media are pro- viding more diversity compared to five years ago. Malta (48%) is also the coun- try where respondents are most likely to think their national media are now more free and independent than they were five years ago, although this view is also held by at least one third of those in Portugal (39%) and Ire- land (35%).