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Comment by bwb | Hacker News Reader

How is press freedom in Malta? Was everyone ever held responsible for the car bombing of Daphne?

I'm not sure what this has to do with AI but press freedom is poorer than most western European countries and the prosecution has left a lot to be desired. There are rumors of a trial happening later this year.

As a local the Daphne case has been a sore point and something which makes me very angry and sad. However it's not the only country with debatable press freedom. It's somewhat difficult to know that my country has been reduced to a single bad episode.

The assassination of an investigative journalist and its subsequent handling is certainly a symptom of the island's embedded corruption. (And I say this as someone who likes the place!) When gambling and international finance make up >10% of the GDP, that's not unexpected. IIRC gambling and online gaming alone used to be >15% of Malta's economy but that balance has shifted over the past decade.

I'd think that the country's regressive anti-abortion laws are a bigger stain on its reputation. You can root out corruption. Moving the nation's Overton window towards a less illiberal stance tends to take a few generations.

Press freedom is absolutely not an issue. Certainly much much better than, say, the UK's where getting arrested for a tweet is common.

Regarding DCG's case: trial of the prime suspect due in July I believe. DCG's tragic case was a one-off. Attacks on democracy are much more common and frequent in other Western countries.

Reporters without Borders recently released Press Freedom Index 2026 puts Malta 67th, and the UK at 18. So no, certainly not much better - although looking at some of the historic data, it was better e.g. in 2010.

https://rsf.org/en/index

Yeah US is 64th lol. Totally unbiased

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