The Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) is considering taking legal action following a recent European Broadcasting Union (EBU) decision to ban the word kant from Malta’s Eurovision entry, according to Culture Minister Owen Bonnici.
He described the ban as “blatant censorship of the Maltese language,” calling the decision “completely unjustified and disproportionate”.
Bonnici said PBS Ltd, which broadcasts the Eurovision Song Contest in Malta, was “actively exploring legal avenues to challenge this decision in the Swiss courts”. The Eurovision final will be held in Basel, Switzerland, in May.
In the meantime, PBS will continue as directed “under protest”, the minister said, adding the company would also appeal the decision to the chairman of the EBU television committee.
Bonnici said the ban “impinges on freedom of expression and the right to non-discrimination – in this case concerning us Maltese and the right to utilise a word which in our language is positive and beautiful”.
“We will not be taking this lying down,” he said.
The EBU decision was announced earlier this week by singer Miriana Conte, who, after finding out about the decision while filming the music video for the song, said she was “shocked and disappointed” while pledging “the show will go on”.
The controversy surrounding the song's title stems from its double meaning; while kant translates to “singing” in Maltese, it also bears a phonetic resemblance to a vulgar English slang term for part of the female anatomy.
The phrase in which the word is included, “serving kant”, can also be seen as a reference to a phrase associated with queer and drag culture, meaning someone who is proud and full of confidence.
Last month, BBC Radio 2 DJ Scott Mills said: "We can’t talk about Malta’s one at all; we definitely can’t play a clip of it, ever, on the BBC”.
The word “c*nt” – that some argue is implied using the Maltese word kant – is considered among the “strongest offensive language” by Ofcom, Britain’s broadcast regulator.
Times of Malta understands the EBU decision was triggered by a complaint from the BBC.