Freedom of speech objection to fake news criminalisation push

The amendment criminalising fake news, threats, insults and the online distribution of obscene photos and pictures is being sent to the House plenary in September.

When the amendment passes, the offences, now considered civil, will be made criminal and will carry a jail sentence of up to five years.

The issue was discussed on Wednesday at the House legal committee.

Deputy attorney general Savvas Angelides, and chairman of the committee Nicos Tornaritis were in favour of the amendment, while the Union of Cyprus Journalists (UCJ) and the Association of Newspapers and Periodicals Publishers stood against it.

During the meeting, Angelides said families and young people were ruined by fake news and pointed out that this form of criminal activity must be addressed.

He added that 90 per cent of the complaints reaching the Law Office had to do with young people in connection with threats and blackmail.

Elias Stephanou, representing the Cyprus Bar Association, said the amendment in essence scrapped journalistic privacy and proposed that investigations of journalists be done only by order of the attorney general.

Representative of the Association of Newspapers and Periodicals Publishers, Eleni Mavrou, referred to back-door criminalisation of reporting and a violation of freedom of the press.

She said the looming threat of criminal investigations initiated by those who could not take criticism would be a blow to democracy.

This, she said, would punish journalists and encourage online anonymity.

Tornaritis said his proposed amendment would be sent to legal committee towards the end of September and from there to the plenary.

In the meantime, the justice ministry and interested parties were requested to present common positions.

“We will not delay it anymore, we will not let our weak compatriots be threatened, blackmailed or bullied by any internet prosecutor,” Tornaritis said.

The MP urged journalists to become “even more investigative” regarding politics and the politicians.

This amendment, he said, was “the first step” towards safeguarding public interest.

Akel MP Andreas Pasiourtides said this was “an indirect effort to criminalise defamation and libel” and that people could still voice their views in a civilised manner.

UCJ president George Frangos said the union expressed concerns that the proposed amendment would “shrink the freedoms of expression and the press”.