PN to move digital rights bill

The Nationalist Party today said that it would be filing a Parliamentary motion proposing the inclusion of four Constitutional amendments to guarantee digital rights.

During a visit at the IT Services Building at the University of Malta, PN leader Simon Busuttil explained that the motion would propose the inclusion of the right to internet access, the right to access information, the right to disseminate information and the right to informational self-determination.

The four proposals were first announced by former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi in early 2012, in reaction to the uproar caused by the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement (ACTA), an international agreement which seeks to tighten copyright protection. Despite Gonzi's announcement the bill was never moved as his government was facing continous internal dissent which finally brought his government down in December 2012.

Although the EU and the majority of its members, including Malta, had signed the agreement in 2011,  a number of countries backtracked on the deal and decided against ratifying the agreement. In addition, in June 2012 the European Parliament exercised its Lisbon Treaty power to reject an international trade agreement.

ACTA was negotiated by the EU and its member states, the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland to improve the enforcement of anti-counterfeiting law internationally. However, the EP's vote meant that neither the EU nor its individual member states could ratify the agreement.

Busuttil said that while the State should minimise restrictions to digital rights, which he said should be justified in an open and transparent democracy.

The opposition leader also proposed that government should provide internet access to vulnerable families by assisting their families through social benefits while strengthening internet accessibility for persons with disability. He also proposed the introduction of ‘net neutrality’ in all laws regulating electoral communication.