Man fined €7,000 for defamatory Facebook post against Transport Minister

A man has been handed a hefty fine for venting his frustrations over ongoing roadworks on Facebook after a court ruled his comments to be defamatory against transport minister Joe Mizzi.

Lawrence Grech, 58, from Vittoriosa, was inconvenienced by roadworks on his street, which had been ongoing for 18 months when in December 2015, in view of the forthcoming statal visit by Queen Elizabeth, new works were undertaken in an adjacent road.

Grech was annoyed by the fact that a team of 12 men was assigned to work round the clock on the adjacent road so as to complete the necessary resurfacing in minimal time.

On 9 December 2015, Grech voiced his frustration on Facebook. He is understood to have adorned his complaints with foul language, where he blamed minister Joe Mizzi for the roadworks.

Two days later, the minister instituted a case for libel against Grech, claiming that the said post was defamatory in his regard. 

Presiding magistrate Francesco Depasquale observed that when the case was filed, Grech had removed the offensive post. It remained, however, that it had been shared with his 700 Facebook friends, he noted.

The court also observed that Grech had failed to offer a public apology.

It was further noted that the offensive remarks had been repeated three times, and could not be considered fair comment.

According to the magistrate, the post, which fell within the definition of a publication in terms of the Press Act, constituted 'a blatant abuse of social media.'

“Such frivolous and capricious comments often cause great harm which may be irremediable and which may cause upheaval in the life of the victim,” the court remarked, as it declared the act to be “cowardly and malicious” against the personal integrity of the minister.

The court ordered Grech to pay €7,000 by way of damages to Mizzi, adding that it "strongly condemned such behaviour."