Let's combat fake news - Michael Briguglio

Times of Malta 28 January 2019

The rise of the social media has changed the news sphere so much that many people get their news primarily from platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.

This has increased the visibility of different news sites, where the reader can pick and choose and interpret according to his values. Readers can also produce news through various forms of technology and media – indeed we are all potential active prosumers and not just passive consumers of news.  

Of course, this does not mean that there is a level playing field in the production and consumption of news: the political economy of news production can never be discarded from the media sphere. Neither can other factors such as technical skills, readability, efficacy, algorithms and media trends. 

What I would like to discuss in this article is the challenge related to the production and consumption of fake news. Here I am not referring to different ideologies, values and perspectives in the interpretation of facts. What I am referring to are news that are plain false. 

To give a basic example: different news sites may give different interpretations and emphases about the action of a politician. But if the politician dies, this fact cannot be faked in the news. Maybe it can be postponed – as is sometimes the case in dictatorial regimes – but death is a fact which nobody can escape.

An inevitable question in this regard is: should we be free to spread fake news, and should it then be up to the reader to believe it or not? 

I believe that free speech must always be situated in a context of responsibility. The question is how the latter can be implemented. For example, legal liabilities and regulations for news platforms, including those that use the social media, could be accompanied by increased investment and cooperation among fact-checking networks. 

Persons who feel aggrieved through fake news should also have more accessible facilities to defend both their reputation as well as the ‘truths’ they believe have been violated. 

I don’t believe that this should result in authoritarian truth-police, but I do have sympathy for persons whose life was shattered courtesy of lies that were spread in the social media. 

As things stand, social media platforms like Facebook offer very few remedies to the victims of fake news. I hope that the recent appointment of former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as head of its global affairs and communications team can help improve things in this regard.  

I also believe that citizens should be equipped to do our part to combat fake news. Civic, ethical and political education should be mainstreamed in the educational system and political actors should form coalitions of trust to combat such dishonest practices.

I also invite readers to look out for fact-checking professional websites that do the job such as Snopes and The Conversation. 

Christina Hagler from the University of Harvard recommends that we also investigate what a news site stands for. Sometimes even basic grammatical characteristics can give a news site away. 

The same can be said as regards lack of references and sources, if the news in question is basically invisible in other sites or if the site in question has a name which is almost identical to that of another legitimate news site. 

Finally, let us not succumb to the illusion that just because some news site is popular it is accurate. 

Sometimes a fake news goes viral, even when there are giveaways that are recognised by attentive and savvy readers. When this happens, I believe that it is our responsibility as active citizens to point this out. 

For it would be a disservice to our civic and democratic responsibilities if we cling to a piece of fake news just because it happens to put our adversaries in bad light. This is like playing a game and not observing the rules. 

Let us not feed the trolls who are hungry for attention through cheap dishonesty. Let us criticise and question each other but let us do this respectfully and honestly.

Parcelling public land - Michael Briguglio

Times of Malta, 14 January 2019

By now it is no secret that the government’s economic model is heavily dependent on accelerated construction projects. Money is injected in the economy, growth takes place and the government’s political cycle is fuelled.

But this comes at a cost. Environmental and social impacts are given secondary importance as is the longer-term economic cycle. Beyond the government’s current political cycle, can Malta sustain an economy that gobbles up more and more land for speculative development projects? And should the taxpayer fund this through the massive discounts given to certain land developers?

The Corinthia development project in St Julian’s is yet another case in point in this regard.

Corinthia is a successful business mostly known for its touristic contribution to the Maltese economy and beyond. Hats off to it for this, and for its plans to have Malta’s first six-star hotel. But given that its plans involve public land andthe development of real estate, one expects that the public interest is prioritised by the government in its negotiations with the private company.

Is the government pleased that the footprint for real estate on the land in question is estimated to be twice as large as the built-up area for tourism purposes? Is the government pleased to give a discount of €70 million to Corinthia for the land in question, when it was valued at €121.7 million by Deloitte?

Is the government equally generous with middle class and working-class taxpayers, with pensioners, with persons in dire need of social housing?

I will remind readers that last October I wrote to the European Commission and to Malta’s State Aid Monitoring Board on a similar development project close by: the controversial DB project in Pembroke.

My letters queried whether the government of Malta was conforming to European and Maltese State aid legislation when it decided to sell the former ITS site to the developers for a mere €15 million, when the same government’s own master plan for the area had valued the land at €8,500 per square metre, which would amount to a total of €204 million for the land at stake.

Malta’s State Aid Monitoring Board is yet to reply to my queries. The European Commission did reply, using bureaucratic jargon that helps one understand why so many people are becoming sceptical of the European dream.

In a nutshell, the European Commission told me that I am not able to make such questions unless I am a disadvantaged competitor. Right, so common citizens have no right to query the EU on State aid involving public land.

But an immediate question comes to mind. Who are the disadvantaged competitors? And are they not complaining because they too will get public land at discounted prices, courtesy of the government but paid by the taxpayer?

These two projects are the two newest instances of the symbiotic relationship between the government and big developers who depend on each other for economic growth and State support respectively at the expense of other concerns.

Only that this time around, the government had postponed the revision of the Paceville Masterplan just before the last general election following public outcry.

What it is now offering is worse: the parcelling out of public land on an ad hoc basis.

The government will tell aggrieved residents that in return for such development, local councils will get money through the planning gain: around one million euros in the case of the Corinthia development.

Maybe the government should also say that despite the national surplus, it recently decided to take €2 million each from the nearby St Julian’s and Sliema local councils from the Development Planning Fund without bothering to consult them.

I am quite pessimistic that the government will change its economic model, but I do appeal to readers to give preference to the Malta they want when deliberating on such issues.

Kemm hawn proprjetajiet battala? - Michael Briguglio

Mhux ironiku li, filwaqt li l-gvern qiegħed jikkunsidra riforma tal-leġiżlazzjoni dwar il-kera, ħadd ma jaf kemm jeżistu proprjetajiet battala f'Malta?

L-unika informazzjoni eżistenti li nistgħu noqogħdu fuqha ġejja miċ-ċensiment nazzjonali tal-2011. Meta nneħħu l-proprjetà li tintuża staġonalment - pereżempju l-villeġġaturi tas-sajf - Malta dak iż-żmien kellha madwar 41,000 proprjetà battala.

Imma minn dak iż-żmien 'l hawn ma ġiet ippubblikata ebda data uffiċjali oħra, minkejja l-bidliet li seħħu fis-settur Malti tad-djar. Dawn kienu marbutin mill-qrib ma' bidliet ekonomiċi u soċjali.

Dak iż-żmien Malta kien qed ikollha suċċess relattiv billi jirnexxielha tegħleb il-kriżi ekonomika dinjija iżda llum hija minn ta' quddiem fit-tkabbir ekonomiku, sitwazzjoni li tista' terġa' tinbidel fis-snin li ġejjin.

Fl-2011, il-kostruzzjoni kellha rwol importanti fil-politika ekonomika ta' Malta, iżda issa qiegħda fil-qalba tal-pjanijiet tal-gvern, kemm direttament kif ukoll indirettament. Il-gvern qiegħed iħeġġeġ l-iżvilupp ta' proġetti kbar, ibigħ il-passaporti u jimporta eluf ta' ħaddiema u l-familji tagħhom. Anke f'dan, is-sitwazzjoni tista' tinbidel fis-snin li ġejjin, kemm permezz tal-politika interna iżda wkoll minħabba konsegwenzi mhux maħsuba jew fatturi esterni.

Sadanittant, kellu jkun student tal-Università ta' Malta, Dario Cacopardo, li jirrakkomanda fit-teżi tiegħu li qabel il-gvern jibda jaħdem fuq politika ġdida dwar id-djar, għandu jaġġorna l-informazzjoni tiegħu. Jien nixtieq nuri l-appoġġ tiegħi għall-fehmiet ta' Cacopardo.

Tabilħaqq, Malta teħtieġ aktar tfassil ta' politika msejjes fuq l-evidenza f'kull qasam.

Naturalment, il-gvern jista' jargumenta li s-sitwazzjoni attwali fil-qasam tad-djar titlob miżuri urġenti, minħabba ż-żieda fil-prezzijiet tal-kera. Iżda kif sħaqt f'din il-gazzetta, l-abbozz ta' white paper tal-gvern ma jindirizzax tassew il-kwistjonijiet immedjati.

Forsi l-prudenza titlob żewġ fergħat ta' tfassil ta' politika f'dan il-qasam: waħda għal miżuri immedjati fuq medda qasira ta' żmien li jolqtu lil dawk li qed iħabbtu wiċċhom ma' emerġenzi ta' akkomodazzjoni, u waħda għal miżuri fuq medda itwal ta' żmien biex tingħata prijorità lis-sostenibilità, l-ugwaljanza, l-effiċjenza u l-ġustizzja soċjali fis-settur.

Sadanittant, il-gvern jista' jikkummissjona riċerka soċjo-xjentifika xierqa biex jgħodd, jikkategorizza u jinterpreta l-istokk attwali u futur ta' akkomodazzjoni f'Malta. Nistgħu nkunu kważi ċerti li l-proprjetajiet battala naqsu mill-2011, iżda din is-suppożizzjoni waħidha ma tagħtiniex biżżejjed evidenza għal tfassil ta' politika sostenibbli.

Lanqas ma jagħtuna biżżejjed evidenza suppożizzjonijiet ferm importanti oħrajn li Cacopardo jiġbed l-attenzjoni għalihom fir-riċerka tiegħu.

Pereżempju, jiddikjara li bosta proprjetajiet battala qodma jinsabu madwar il-Port il-Kbir iżda mhumiex qed jinbigħu, filwaqt li proprjetajiet ġodda jinbigħu ferm aktar faċilment. Raġuni waħda għal dan hi li diversi proprjetajiet qodma kkonċernati huma regolati permezz ta' sistemi qodma ta' kiri u ġew abbandunati.

Il-manutenzjoni jew ir-restawr tagħhom jiswa ħafna flus, u dan iwassal biex ikomplu jiddeterjoraw. Minbarra dan, meta dawn il-proprjetajiet ikunu soġġetti għal proċedimenti fil-qorti, dawn jistgħu idumu eternità biex jissolvew, minkejja riformi tajbin introdotti mill-gvern biex jiffaċilita l-bejgħ ta' proprjetajiet bħal dawn.

Barra minn hekk, jeżisti nuqqas ta' ħaddiema b'ħiliet marbutin mal-manutenzjoni jew ir-restawr ta' bini, tant li bosta ħaddiema barranin qegħdin jiġu importati għal din ir-raġuni. Rajt eżempji relatati b'għajnejja stess, pereżempju fi djar soċjali qodma tal-gvern, li kellhom bżonn il-kostruzzjoni ta' lifts, iżda din kienet tista' ssir biss ladarba jkunu disponibbli l-ħaddiema. Fl-istess waqt, ir-residenti jħabbtu wiċċhom ta' kuljum ma' problemi ta' mobilità u aċċessibilità.

Inċidentalment, Cacopardo jenfasizza li ħadd ma jaf kemm proprjetajiet huwa sid tagħhom il-gvern, aħseb u ara l-qagħda attwali tagħhom.

Rakkomandazzjonijiet bħal dawn huma importanti għal għadd ta' raġunijiet. L-ewwel nett, jirreferu għal sfidi reali li qed jaffaċċaw diversi gruppi kkonċernati f'Malta: mis-sidien tal-proprjetà għal dawk li jikru, minn dawk li jfasslu l-politika għall-aġenti tal-proprjetà u mill-akkademiċi għall-ħaddiema.

It-tieni nett, dawn ir-rakkomandazzjonijiet jikkonfermaw l-importanza tar-riċerka li titwettaq fl-Università ta' Malta u istituzzjonijiet akkademiċi oħrajn. Dawn mhumiex sempliċiment fabbriki li jipproduċu l-ħaddiema, iżda aktar minn hekk huma ċentri ta' għarfien li jipprovdu mistoqsijiet u tweġibiet importanti.

It-tielet, rakkomandazzjonijiet bħal dawn jipprovdu l-pedamenti li fuqhom nibnu d-deliberazzjoni politika u, fejn possibbli, il-kunsens dwar tfassil ta' politika hekk importanti.

Dan l-artiklu deher fil-Mument, 13 ta' Jannar 2019

 

How many vacant properties? - Michael Briguglio

Times of Malta 7th January 2019

Isn’t it ironic that while the government is considering reform of rent legislation, no one knows how many vacant properties exist in Malta?

The only reliable information which exists is from the 2011 national census. When one removes property which is used seasonally – for example summer residences – Malta then had around 41,000 vacant properties. 

But since then, no other official data was published, despite the changes which took place in Malta’s housing sector. These were very much related to economic and social changes. 

Malta was then relatively successfully weathering the global economic crisis but is now a high-flier in economic growth, a situation which could change again in the years to come. 

Back in 2011, construction played an important role in Malta’s economic policy, but it is now at the centre of the government’s plans, both directly and indirectly. The government is encouraging the development of big projects, selling passports and importing thousands of workers and their families. Again, the landscape could change in the years to come, both through internal policy change but also through unintended consequences or external factors.

In the meantime, it had to be a University of Malta student, Dario Cacopardo, to recommend through his dissertation that before the government embarks on new housing policies, it should update its information. I endorse Cacopardo’s views.

Indeed, Malta needs more evidence-based policymaking across the board.

Of course, the government can argue that the current housing situation requires urgent measures, given the increase in the price of rent. But as I argued in this newspaper, its draft white paper does not really tackle short-term issues. 

Perhaps prudence can call for two tranches of policymaking: one for immediate short-term measures covering people who are facing housing emergencies, and one for longer term measures to prioritise sustainability, equity, efficiency and social justice in the sector. 

In the meantime, the government can commission proper social-scientific research to count, categorise and interpret Malta’s current and future housing stock. We can almost be sure that vacant properties have decreased since 2011, but this assumption alone does not provide enough evidence for sustainable policymaking.

Neither do other very important assumptions which are highlighted by Cacopardo in his research. 

For example, he states that a lot of old vacant properties are found around the Grand Harbour but are not being sold, whereas new properties are sold much more easily. One reason for this is that various old properties in question are regulated through old rent regimes and were abandoned. 

Maintaining or upgrading them is very costly, thus resulting in further deterioration. Not to mention that when such properties are subject to court procedures, these can take an eternity to be solved, despite commendable reforms introduced by the government to facilitate their sale.

Besides, a lack of skilled workers exists, so much so that many foreign workers are being imported for this reason. I have witnessed related examples with my own eyes, for example in old government social housing, which requires the construction of lifts, but which can only be done once workers are available. In the meantime, mobility and accessibility problems are encountered daily by residents.

Incidentally, Cacopardo highlights that no one knows how many properties are owned by the government, let alone their current situation.

Such recommendations are important for various reasons. In the first instance, they refer to real challenges faced by various stakeholders in Malta: from property owners to tenants, from policymakers to estate agents and from scholars to workers.

Second, such recommendations confirm the importance of research carried out at the University of Malta and other academic institutions. These are not simply factories that produce workers, but are even more so hubs of knowledge that provide important questions and answers.  

Third, such recommendations provide building blocks for political deliberation and when possible, consensus on such important policymaking.