Society should have the power to intervene to curb what could be damaging to an individual’s educational process on the basis of the principle of precaution, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech said.

In an homily dedicated to censorship during Mass for journalists, Mgr Grech called for the adoption of this European principle in media products.

He said that when journalists operated the media in a responsible way, they helped influence the formation of individuals, society and culture.

But the media could cause harm as much as it could help, especially since people were not being educated to read or watch in a critical manner.

The precaution principle, he said, was a concept introduced in the Rio Declaration following the 1992 earth summit, and it was later adopted by the EU in the Maastrich and Lisbon treaties.

According to this principle, when a particular object was suspected to be dangerous, it was withdrawn from society by the people responsible for the common good.

So why should this principle not be applied to media products, he asked.

Mgr Grech said that once it was scientifically proven that the media could endanger a person’s psychological and moral health, the implementation of this European principle, should be accepted.