Prohibition propagates

I Bugeja

Jul 30th 2012, 12:26

It seems to be all about the streisand effect - both stories. However although interest may be raised, after a while franco becomes another face in the crowd. Uninteresting and failing to offer anything more than a memory. Perhaps the worst thing that can happen to him - become unknown.

Morana Axisa

Jul 30th 2012, 08:01

Well honestly, if someone in Parliament feels so easily threatened by a tiny weeny blog, what does that say about his self-respect? And YES if he did not feel threatened he wouldn't have created this storm in a teacup. So what should I, a private citizen, do if someone I did not like talked about me in ways I did not approve? Should I tell the PM as well? Vera certi politikanti ghar mit tfal zghar - jiehdu ghalihom mix xejn umbghad imorru 'jugzaw' l min dejjaqhom lil mummy... lol

Alan Montanaro

Jun 21st 2012, 14:56

...if you allow me to paraphrase Will Shakespeare "methinks the man doth protest too much ".
He practically hijacked this blog!

franco debono

Jun 20th 2012, 13:29

@ alison bezzina :

you are completely wrong, is an apology appropriate? what you alleged in my regards is false :

times online january 16 2012 10.01am

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120116/local/debono-views-pm-s-appeal-as-belated-and-hollow.402545

franco debono

Jun 19th 2012, 08:02

'the country is not run by bloggers' :

after recent events obviously, any further explanation is superfluous.

but in general people in the media can act as the oligarchy's police trying desperately to crush dissent and opposition to the oligarchy.

what you might perceive as 'gaffes' and 'soap opera' were my humble attempts to restore the supremacy of parliament in our parliamentary democracy having had the courage to challenge the oligarchy police.

the supremacy of parliament is being restored. look around you

franco debono

Jun 18th 2012, 17:45

@alison bezzina :

since you chose maybe to describe my calls for long overdue constitutional, political and justice reforms as 'gaffes' and 'soap operas' i would be very curious to see what you think in general about attacks in the media on private persons, since till now you seem to be very comfortable with them!

David Philip Farrugia

Jun 18th 2012, 13:43

Alison wasting our precious time...? Well look who's talking...

Fleur Mifsud

Jun 18th 2012, 12:52

Dear Alison

You are wrong,Victor is right.

Franco's mother was called a whore. I have read it myself and was shocked that anybody could stoop so low and hurt an other persons feelings without batting an eyelid.
Check it out for yourself.

franco debono

Jun 18th 2012, 12:14

@ alison bezzina :

all your facts are completely wrong, i am afraid. i would do some research before rushing to write about people.

1) when the Prime Minister condemned attacks in my regards, i said i did not appreciate that condemnation and i didn't need it. i said that all i expected from the Prime Minister was to ensure adeguate laws ensuring freedom of speech but at the same time providing for adeguate compensation for victims of abuse of that freedom of expression. no right is absolute, contrary to the impression which you, maybe involuntarily, gave.

2) so i did not go running to the Prime Minister to ask for protection or anything. i did the exact opposite. now you could look it up yourself. i gave these comments on this site. i repeat : i did the complete opposite

3) i don't know from where you got the argument that i didn't file for libel due to ridiculous amount of damages. i did in fact file for libel once or twice, but an amicable solution was reached. the point is different. people should have adequate protection and granted adequate compensation when the courts decide they have been libelled and defamed. if you give a look at what happens in other european countries, you wouldn' waste more precious time debating the obvious.

3) the only thing i asked the Prime Minister, due to reasons which i do not think i should expose on this blog, was to condemn an attack (which has since been described by the author as a joke, it seems), on my mother, who is not a public figure. i didn't ask PM to stop anyone from writing anything, or to condemn attacks on me, or even to condemn the author. just condemn the attack on my mother.

franco debono

Jun 18th 2012, 12:03

@alison bezzina : you are completely wrong, and you are wasting readers' precious time.

1) when PM condemned attacks in my regards i said i did not need such condemnations and did not appreciate. i said the only thing i expected from PM was to ensure adeguate libel laws are in place, which everyone can invoke to protect himself and his reputation, so i did the complete opposite of what you imagined and wrote. you can find this on record in this site

2) the only thing i asked the PM, due to reasons which i do not think should be exposed here, was to condemn a fierce attack on my mother ( which has since, it seems been explained by its author as a joke), who is not a public figure.

me and my family still have police security behind our door mainly because of unjust insults, and attacks.

3) anyone who feels libelled should not only have the appropriate declaration by the competent courts but also adeguate compensation for damages caused to one's reputation, dignity and integrity. that is justice.

4) it seems you are not up to date with the kind of names people have been called

5) as to the oligarchy, i pushed for constitutional, political and justice reforms as proper remedies, reforms which would modernise our constitutional set up in line with other european countries

Alison Bezzina

Jun 18th 2012, 09:35

Everyone and their brother is entitled to feel offended, but when you’re the one complaining about the oligarchy (which I do believe exists as it would be unnatural if it didn’t after 25 years in power), when you’re the one threatening to bring the Government down because of it, then it is (to say the least) contradictory to make use of your position, your closeness to the head of the said oligarchy, to get something done. Whether it’s condemning or stopping is irrelevant really.

If I felt offended by somebody’s comments about me, would I, or could I go running to the PM to get it condemned? It wouldn’t even cross my mind if I had been the one complaining about the almighty closed-knit group at the top!

The right way to do it is to let the courts decide whether something is libellous or not. The excuse that the punishment is currently not worth the hassle of a court case is just that – an excuse. Going to the PM is the equivalent of trying to get a guilty verdict without a trial.

As Michael Seychell said below, anyone who feels libelled should be more interested in the principle of getting their name or their relative’s name cleared, and not in the monetary damages. Besides, as things still stand at the moment (and on this I agree with FD that it should be removed) you can still get someone jailed for libel. If that isn’t punishment enough I don’t know what is.

@Victor – just for the record nobody was called a ‘whore’

Michael Seychell

Jun 17th 2012, 18:53

@ Ms. A. Bezzina A very good article and to the point - proset!

@ Dr. Franco Debono - Had you written a hundred or more comments to contest the contents of this article, it would still be a fact that when you felt offended by what had been written on TMI, you went crying to 'Daddy' insisting that he should stop - therefore censure - the naughty girl who you claimed offended you and your mother.

Your argument that it is not worth taking legal action against those who offend you because the amount you may win is very low, is very weak to say the least, as it can be interpreted that you are more interested in the monetary value you may win, rather than clearing your name or that of your family members.
I have taken Dr. G. Vella ex Deputy Leader and Dr Alfred Sant ex Leader of the MLP when I felt offended with what they said about me in Public Meetings.

In the first case I dropped the case when Dr. Vella declared publicly that he never had the intention to offend me and did not consider that I was one of the 'Mixtrijin' when I took part in the ‘Yes for Europe’ campaign.
In the second case Dr. Sant opted to let the Court decide whether he was correct or not when he had stated that as Director of PBS I had favoured a producing company owned by my daughter and her husband, and the court decided that Dr. Sant was wrong and ordered him to pay me the fabulous sum of 1000.00 Euro (one thousand euro).

I was pleased with the outcome of the court decision not for the meagre sum I was awarded, which I have not yet received albeit four months have already passed, but because my name was cleared and it was confirmed that I acted correctly in my role as director of PBS, since whenever there was a discussion on any production/s for which the company of my daughter and her husband were involved, I always left the meeting and entered again when a decision had been reached by the other members of the board.

Michael Seychell Tal-Pieta

franco debono

Jun 17th 2012, 18:40

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120606/blogs/a-new-regulatory-paradigm-for-the-media.423056

Andy Farrugia

Jun 17th 2012, 18:00

True, there is freedom of of expression in the UK..... such as heckling presumptuous MPs, such as pelting them with eggs, paint, etc., such as giving them a heck of a dressing down on the media. Personally, I do not approve of such uncivil methods of venting one's exasperation with the shenanigans of MPs, but I can well understand what drives them to such extreme forms of protest.

Victor Laiviera

Jun 17th 2012, 17:54

One of the points emphasised during a recent course in political studies I attended was that no right is absolute, even the most important. They are all subject to limitation in certain circumstances.

Put more crudely, your right to swing your arm ends where my nose begins.

It is naive to think that speech is - or can ever be - absolutely free, and it is not really very hard to think of circumstances where it is legitimately curtailed. To pull just one example out of the hat, judges and magistrates frequently restrict court reporting of certain cases.

So what we should be discussing is whether freedom of speech is being used or abused, especially in the blogosphere.

Is it legitimate to call your opponent’s mother a whore just because you feel he is threatening your party’s grip on power?

Andy Farrugia

Jun 17th 2012, 17:25

And what happens to politicians who attack others, especially their colleagues, who tarnish the reputation of others by referring to "oligarchy", "web of evil"; who address colleagues with "hu go fik", who hold a whole country to ransom by their megalomaniac demands and "loose cannon" behaviour? Bring on the election and we'll see what happens.

franco debono

Jun 17th 2012, 13:31

editorial, The Sunday Times, may 6

"And coupled with improved libel legislation that would better serve the public as well as the press, the suggestion made by Dr Debono – that the ceiling for civil damages be raised for media which are found to have libelled an individual – should indeed attract support from all responsible media houses as long as the sums reflect local financial realities."

franco debono

Jun 17th 2012, 13:29

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120506/editorial/Changing-the-media-landscape.418531

franco debono

Jun 17th 2012, 13:13

1. freedom of expression is sacred

2. however people in general, including politicians have a right not just to 'get annoyed and angry', but they have a right to their dignity and reputation. in all other civilised countries this is done by fixing an adeguate compensation for damages caused by libel. very simple. the amount of damages in maltese libel laws is so low and ridiculous when compared to to other countries. freedom of expression does not mean people don't have a right to their dignity and reputation.

3. i never asked anyone to stop people from writing anything. you should check your facts. you are completely wrong. first of all i wasn't obvioulsy referring to all bloggers. secondly i just asked the Prime Minister to condemn a vile attack on my mother.

from what i gather you are all out in favour of people abusing freedom of expression trying to destroy others and what maybe they have sacrificedly built in a lifetime, and paying just two thousand euros in compensation.

our libel laws do not take into consideration the advent of the internet.

in the meantime maybe you can do some research and check, how much you would have to pay in libel damages in the U.K. for example and let us know. in the U.K. surely freedom of expression is revered.