Users who write hateful and violent comments in secret groups on Facebook could still be charged with committing a crime, a legal expert has warned.

The Sunday Times of Malta sought information on the action that can be taken against those who write hateful comments in Facebook groups after it emerged that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and several top government officials are members of a number of pro-Labour groups where violent comments often targeting PN politicians, journalists and activists are shared.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was also a member of the groups but has since left them.

The legal expert told The Sunday Times of Malta that while there was a fine line between what is considered to be hate speech and what is regarded as harassment, even if the comments are made in groups that is secret, once seen by a large number of people they are considered to have been made public.

As a result, any comments deemed to be hateful can lead to legal action, and the mere fact that the group is a secret one does not mean users are not answerable to the law.

While by writing a comment one is automatically considered to be the author, the situation is different when the act of ‘liking’ is involved.

Apart from actually writing a comment, users on Facebook may opt to react to a post by using emoticons, with the social networking site offering different options for this, such as a smiley face, a heart, an angry face, a thumbs up and a shocked face.

Merely ‘liking’ a post, the expert went on, could not be automatically assumed to be a sign of agreement by the user with the content of the post, as the meaning of ‘liking’ could be “difficult to interpret”.

“Say I opt for the smiley face as a reaction. How can you prove that I was agreeing with what was written?” the legal expert went on.

On anonymous users writing hateful and violent comments, the expert said that the administrator of the group would likely be the one to take the fall, again pointing out that the matter could still be a bit of a grey area, since many different users would be involved.

Meanwhile, a government spokesman would not confirm to the Times of Malta whether the Prime Minister would be following in the President’s footsteps and leaving the pro-Labour Facebook groups. However, The Shift News revealed on Saturday that Dr Muscat was still a member of the groups.

While the government spokesman condemned hate speech, he went on to insist that one should look into “vitriolic attacks on exponents from all sides of the political spectrum”.

On Friday, three people were denied bail and were remanded in custody after being charged with posting “hate” messages on Facebook hours after a policeman was seriously injured in a hit-and-run.

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