Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/993482
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 13 JUNE 2018 4 NEWS THE Democratic Party (PD) has called for a mechanism that will monitor and regulate political parties, the news me- dia, telecom operators, legal and communications experts to discuss means of monitoring and curbing the misuse of on- line media. "PD believes this is a matter of urgency," the party said. "It is in everyone's long term interest that what we read and hear re- flects what is really happening. Open, free and informed discus- sion on topics that concern us all can only happen if the truth is protected." PD said social and online me- dia was being used to warp pub- lic opinion and perception on political parties, organisations and individuals. "This phenomenon is becom- ing increasingly evident in our everyday lives, and of more concern, it seems to be on an organised scale," it said. The PD said this was evident in websites and social media groups designed to ridicule and denigrate politicians and jour- nalists, fake profiles designed to undermine people by issuing false statements pretending to be by them; hacking and block- ing of websites, and the use of trolls by the major political par- ties to ridicule critics. The PD also said that political parties were issuing fake news to the detriment of those opposing them and their agenda, and that party media were deliberately omitting news of public interest which is not of interest to their cause. "Freedom of speech is a funda- mental right and feature in any true democracy. The manipula- tion of that right, however, can undermine the very democracy it is designed to protect. Europe, 80 years ago, witnessed the ef- fect of such manipulation. Au- tocracy, fascism and eventually war. If people and the media are unable to responsibly use the tools available to them to trans- mit their views and ideas, then they paradoxically risk having every voice suppressed," the PD said. Partit Demokratiku wants national commission to monitor online abuse MASSIMO COSTA A report issued by the three MEPs who visited Malta earlier this month has high- lighted that over 100 people have been interviewed by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja in the ongoing Egrant case, however the inquiry is a "one-man job" for the mag- istrate, who has "no one to brainstorm with." Bugeja, who is leading the inquiry into Egrant and 17 Black, told MEPs Ana Gomes, Sven Giegold and David Casa – during their visit to Malta on 1 June, in a follow-up to the European Parliament's rule of law del- egation which came to Malta last year – that despite hav- ing a substantial workload, he had been working "around the clock" on the inquiry. The magistrate said his powers were "limited" and that "much of the action re- quired and requested in the public domain rests on the police's shoulders." It would be up to the Po- lice Commissioner to decide whether to open investiga- tions based on the inquiry, once it is concluded, and should he choose not to do so, the AG would then have to consider whether to order the police to start an investi- gation, Bugeja said. He also underlined that the magisterial investigation was carried out in total sep- aration from the police, with no exchange of information taking place. Not all Caruana Galizia mur- der leads being followed In the 20-page report – drawn-up following other meetings the MEPs had with Opposition and gov- ernment MPs; Magistrate Anthony Vella who is lead- ing the Daphne Caruana Galzia murder inquiry; and with various civil society activists – they claimed the police were "ostensibly" not Egrant inquiry to brainstorm Malta's constitutional setup allows misuse of power, MEP Sven Giegold tells PN MPs