Il-libertà tal-kelma għandha tkun sagrosanta f’demokrazija. Nitilqu minn hemm. Biss imbagħad iqumu r-riżervi. Bħal: Il-libertà tal-kelma m’għandhiex tfisser libertà għal diskors li jqanqal mibegħda fost in-nies. Bħal: Għandu jkun hemm rimedju għall-malafama.
L-aħħar punt iqajjem argumenti interessanti. Ir-rimedju m’għandux iservi biex jagħlaq ħalq min jikxef l-imġiba ħażina fin-negozju jew fl-amministrazzjoni publika.
Jissemma l-mezz li bih min irid jagħlaq ħalq xi ħadd u jbeżżgħu, jagħmillu kawża fi tribunali barranin fejn jeżistu l-akbar pieni. Allura jintqal li hemm bżonn liġijiet biex jipprojbixxu dil-ħaġa.
Barra mill-komplikazzjonijiet legali li dil-proċedura tista’ tqanqal, hemm osservazzjoni relatata mal-globalizzazzjoni tal-mezzi ta’ kumnikazzjoni li tista’ ssir. Hi simili għall-argumenti li jitqanqlu dwar il-pajjiżi li għandhom rati ta’ taxxi baxxi fuq il-kumpaniji biex jattiraw lil min irid iħallas anqas taxxi.
Min jixtieq jagħmel malafama, jista’ jagħmilha minn pajjiż fejn il-pieni għaliha huma baxxi ħafna. Jekk itellaqha fuq il-midja soċjali, xorta se tasal kullimkien mad-dinja.
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“STRESS TEST”
Għall-banek daħlet il-prattika li l-awtoritajiet li jirregolawhom jinsistu li jsiru fuqhom testijiet li jkejlu kif jistgħu jintlaqtu minn bidliet għall-agħar fil-qagħda finanzjarja tagħhom. Dawn l-i“stress tests”, kif jissejħu, huma utli biex kemm min qed jissorvelja u kemm min qed imexxi l-banek ikun imwissi minn qabel dwar xi bidla li tista’ tinħema għat-tajjeb jew għall-ħażin f’sitwazzjoni attwali.
L-istess ħaġa għandha ssir għall-ekonomiji. Mhux l-anqas għal dik Maltija.
Ninsabu f’qagħda bla preċedent fir-rati ta’ tkabbir ekonomiku li ilna deċennji ma nilħqu fuq dan it-tul ta’ żmien. Kemm jekk dan jibqa’ jiġri, kemm jekk jintemm bil-mod jew hesrem, ma jeżistux preċedenti li diriġenti publiċi u kapijiet ta’ impriżi jistgħu jirreferu għalihom biex iħejju għall-futur.
Iż-żamma ta’ “stress test” tal-ekonomija bil-publikazzjoni minnufih tar-riżultati (għalkemm din twarrbet bħala prattika fl-aħħar żminijiet) tkun inizjattiva siewja
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BANEK U DIRETTIVI EWROPEJ
Fil-midja dehret storja dwar kif se jogħlew it-tariffi għall-użu tal-ATMs meta persuna tħaddem il-magna ta’ bank biex toħroġ il-flus minn bank ieħor. Ir-raġuni kienet, skont il-banek, li t-twettiq ta’ miżura ġdida ta’ sigurtà taħt direttiva dwar il-banek tal-Unjoni Ewropea, ġġib magħha żieda fl-ispejjeż għat-transazzjoni msemmija, u allura fit-tariffa għaliha.
Mill-uffiċċju tiegħi, iċċekkjajna dwar dil-ħaġa mal-Kummissjoni Ewropea. Din ċaħdet li l-miżura msemmija kellha x’taqsam mal-ATMs u wisq anqas ma’ xi żieda fl-ispejjeż tagħhom. Il-Bank Ċentrali ta’ Malta kkonferma l-istess ħaġa.
Il-banek se jdaħħluha diż-żieda ta’ tariffi jew le? Kif qed jiġġustifikawha tassew? Jekk tassew taw ir-raġuni li dehret fil-midja, kif jibqgħu jitħallew jitmejlu b’dal-mod biċ-ċittadini?
English Version – Freedom and controls
Freedom of speech should be considered sacred in a democracy. That’s where we all start from. But then reservations are raised. Like with: Freedom of speech should not mean freedom for hate speech. Or: There have to be remedies against the malicious spread of bad news that undermines the reputation of people and institutions.
The second point raises interesting arguments. Any remedy cannot serve to muzzle those who publish information about unacceptable acts by business concerns or in the public administration.
Mention is however made of those who in order to scare reporters and make them shut up, open libel cases in foreign jurisdictions where the heaviest fines prevail. So, it is said that there is need for laws that do not recognize decisions in this sense taken by other jurisdictions.
Such an approach could involve legal complications, in addition to which a comment related to the globalisation of the means of communication might also apply. It is similar in scope to the arguments which are advanced about those countries having low rates of company taxes in order to attract entities seeking to reduce their tax burden.
Whoever is out to spread malicious news could do it from countries where libel penalties are very low. When done through social media, it would still have a global reach.
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Stress test
In the banking sector, the practice has been adopted by which regulatory authorities insist on running tests to estimate how banks could be affected by negative changes in their financial position. These stress tests, as they are called, are useful because they allow both bank supervisors and managers to detect in good time the direction of any arising changes for the better or the worse in a given situation.
The same approach should be adopted for national economies, not least that of Malta.
We find ourselves in an unprecedented situation, enjoying at present very high economic growth rates that for long decades we never reached, and for so long a period. If this goes on – equally if it tapersoff slowly, or all at once – the directors of public entities and the heads of private enterprises can refer to no precedents from the past in order to face up to the future.
It would be a useful initiative to run stress tests of the economy and immediately publish the results (though admittedly, this latter practice has gone quite out of fashion recently).
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Banks and European directives
The news media featured a story about how tariff rates would be increasing for the usage of bank ATMs by customers wanting to withdraw money held in another bank. According to the banks, the reason for this was the implementation of new security measures under an EU bank directive, which increased the cost of organizing such a transaction, so that the payment for it also needed to be raised.
From my office, a check was held with the European Commission on the matter. Officials there denied that the measures cited had anything to do with ATMs or even less with any increase of their running costs. The Central Bank of Malta confirmed the same thing.
Are banks going to introduce this tariff or not? How are they justifying it exactly? If the reason is truly the one featured in the media, why are Malta banks allowed to bamboozle citizens in this manner?
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