The Institute of Maltese Journalists has urged MPs to back Opposition amendments to Malta’s anti-SLAPP laws.

Parliament is due to debate the subject on Wednesday afternoon and IĠM representatives will be attending the debate.

Anti-SLAPP provisions seek to protect journalists, media outlets, blogs and other publications from vexatious and costly lawsuits intended to frighten reporters into silence.

Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in 2017, was the subject of multiple such lawsuits.

An EU-wide anti-SLAPP directive came into effect last year. But many campaigners say the directive is too weak and needs to be further bolstered to be effective.

Concerns stem from the directive limiting its provisions to cases instituted in foreign courts and concerning transnational issues. That would mean many SLAPP suits, such as those Caruana Galizia faced, would not be subject to the law.

The Nationalist Party amendments propose, among other things, extending the anti-SLAPP law to apply to domestic cases. The party is also proposing to increase the penalties a court can impose on anyone who initiates a vexatious SLAPP suit to between €10,000 and €100,000. Currently, fines are capped at €10,000.

In its statement, the IĠM said the anti-SLAPP legal notice enacted by the government last year “provides for the minimum required by the EU directive, which is why it has to be strengthened further.”

“The two amendments put forward by the Opposition are another step in the right direction,” it said.

The IĠM also noted that the government’s pledge to issue a White Paper on media reform has yet to come to fruition, well over a year after it was first promised.

The reforms needed include changes to the Constitution, the Media and Defamation Act, the Criminal Code and other laws.