The bombardment of Facebook appeals for a Yes or No vote in the spring hunting referendum should in theory cease tomorrow as voters ‘reflect’ on the choice they face.
The cessation of electoral activity 24 hours before voting day is not a custom but the law.
However, it remains to be seen whether practicality will hinder the police from taking action against anybody who breaches the legal provisions on silent day, as it is known.
Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and Nationalist Party deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami both agree that the current law may need updating to cater for modern-day realities that transcend the traditional media.
Both have expressed a willingness to change. The question remains when.
Dr Bonnici said the police had a duty to enforce penal laws including those regulating the day of silence before an election.
“However, considering that the present law regulating the matter was enacted prior to the advent of social media, the government is open to discussing this issue,” he said.
Dr Fenech Adami said the Opposition was open to talking about any possible changes.
“Today we live in an age where everyone is a broadcaster of information and even from a practical point of view it is very difficult to control what they post online,” he said.
Dr Fenech Adami said this did not necessarily mean the silent day should be ditched completely and political parties allowed to organise mass meetings a day before the election. “But the present online ban needs revisiting.”
Questions on the present ban were raised for the first time in the 2008 general election when the internet emerged as the new battleground for political parties.
This had created a conundrum on whether the General Elections Act also applied to the web.
A few years later the advent of Facebook and Twitter, which empowered voters to post and share political statements on their personal account to thousands of followers, made the situation far more problematic to enforce.
At the same time it also raised questions over whether traditional media, which rigorously observe the ban till this day, had been put at a disadvantage.
In the 2013 general election the law was flouted with impunity by some internet users, forcing the police to enforce the media blackout. The most notable case was that involving blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, when the police turned up outside her residence armed with an arrest warrant.
After the election the police also questioned several candidates, including MPs Deborah Schembri, Helena Dalli and Charles Mangion over claims that they too had flouted the law through online posts.
Questions sent to the police about whether any of the individuals questioned at the time were charged remained unanswered by the time of writing.
Neither did the police reply to questions on whether they would enforce the law for posts on social media sites.
The General Election Act of 1991 predates the advent of the internet but the silent day ban observed on Friday applies to “any other means of communication”. Lawyers who had spoken to this newspaper said the law also applied to the internet but questioned the practicality of enforcing it.
Anyone convicted of breaching the ban is liable to a maximum fine of €1,164 and up to six months imprisonment.