Politicians continue campaigning on social media on silent day

Several candidates continued with their online advertising campaigns on Friday, despite a legally mandated ‘day of silence’ that prohibits people from distributing material intended to influence voters.

According to the Meta Ad Library, a database of all active and expired advertising campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, many candidates still have active campaigns running across the platforms.

Some of the candidates identified are Julian Borg (PN), Yana Borg Debono Grech (PL), Joseph Grech (PN), Rodrick Zerafa (PL), Josef Bugeja (PL), Lorna Borg Vassallo (PL), Keith Azzopardi Tanti (PL), Beppe Galea (PN), James Aaron Ellul (PN) and Edward Cassar Delia (PL).

Edward Cassar Delia started running a couple of adverts on silent day itself

James Aaron Ellul started an advert campaign the day before silent day

Lorna Borg Vassallo has had advertising campaigns running on Facebook since April 30

Beppe Galea set up some campaigns the day before silent day

Keith Azzopardi Tanti set up several advertising campaigns in the run-up to silent day

Josef Bugeja's latest advert started running on May 26

Joseph Grech also had an active ad running on silent day

In most cases, the adverts were set up in the previous days but were allowed by the advertiser to continue running throughout the silent day.

According to the General Elections Act, any person caught sharing material that is intended or likely to influence voters could be subject to a €1,164.69 fine or a six-month prison term, or both.

Chief Electoral Commissioner Joseph Camilleri told Times of Malta that any reports of silent day breaches will be forwarded to the police for investigation.

“Social media is challenging given that the platforms are often abroad and therefore more challenging to control,” he said.

'Silent day has become pretty useless'

There is also some debate as to whether silent day remains relevant in the digital age.

Ġorġ Mallia, an academic, said that the silent day has become “pretty useless” given that digital media lacks the immediate control that one had over legacy media when the law was made. Most advertising is not time-barred, and even if uploaded before the silent day, the content could still end up on people’s social media feeds.

“The fluidity of IP addresses, often disguised through VPNs, also makes it very difficult to trace those who upload on the day, so what is the use of trying to enforce such silence? If it needs to remain, it should be limited to public pronouncements by political players, but trying to control the media, at this stage, is nigh impossible,” he said.

It is unclear how many people have been taken to court over the years for breaching the silent day rules.

In 2013, Daphne Caruana Galizia was taken in for questioning over videos she posted that mocked Joseph Muscat, who was the opposition leader at the time.

Some Labour candidates were also questioned by police, namely Nikita Zammit Alamango and Deborah Schembri, for posting political comments on social media.

In 2017, the silent day descended into an online free-for-all after Labour and PN decided to allow their candidates to continue their campaigning on social media and even posted videos on their own party pages.

Both Labour and the PN told Times of Malta that they will respect the law as long as it is in place. However, the Labour Party said it is "more challenging to meet these obligations due to social media", while the PN said it is "open to all suggestions". 

Sandra Gauci, leader of ADPD, said silent day does not make sense anymore. "I still agree there shouldn't be mass meetings on silent day, but then people can continue sharing, tagging and liking nonstop on socials, that's why the idea itself is becoming obsolete."

Momentum's general secretary Mark Camilleri Gambin said the party will respect the rule as long as it is in place. "But does it make sense today? Probably not. But we will continue to respect it nonetheless."