The Broadcasting Authority has hit back at critics lambasting it for fining a radio station that refused to give a platform to a far-right group, saying that its detractors "haven't read the law". 

On Wednesday the BA fined RTK 103 €4,660 for refusing to give a platform to the far-right party Imperium Europa on Andrew Azzopardi's Saturday morning radio show. 

The party was founded by and is led by Norman Lowell, who has been convicted by Maltese courts of inciting racial hatred. 

RTK 103 has said it will be appealing the decision, while groups such as PEN Malta and the IĠM have come out in support of the radio station and criticised the BA's decision. 

PEN Malta said that through its decision the BA had "legitimised racism as a political view" while the IĠM called the decision "nonsensical" and that racism ought not to be protected by state authorities. 

However, in reply to the backlash, the BA said on Friday that it "follows the law, interprets the law as it is and enacts what is in the law". 

"It is clear that what was broadcast across several media platforms shows that those reporting and criticising did not read the law in the context of the decision and didn’t read the decision in its entirety," they said. 

The authority said that its decision never spoke about giving space to any candidates of any party, including those from Imperium Europa, as the law speaks about "viewpoints" and not about candidates. 

"Therefore every observation and criticism should be oriented towards this context," they said. 

The BA added that the board's secretary has no decision-making role within the board and that it is not true that the secretary refused to recuse himself. 

The board secretary, Adriano Spiteri, was until recently an active member of Imperium Europa. 

"The authority denies that the secretary did not want to recuse himself but it was the board which decided about the request for his recusal, a fact which is also listed in the decision," they said.