Malta: Cartoonist Miriam Galea subjected to cyberbullying for depicting political rot in country
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November 18, 2021, Valletta - Brussels-based translator and political cartoonist Miriam Galea was subjected to a deeply gendered and vile cyberbullying campaign after she published a couple of cartoons depicting former first lady Michelle Muscat. Her cartoons were a comment on the political rot in the country. However, following the publication of her satirical artwork, she was targeted with gendered slurs and baseless accusations. Supporters of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat also started reporting her online page en masse in an attempt to silence her. The Coalition For Women In Journalism registers concern for Miriam’s safety and condemns the attempts to silence her.
The onslaught of hate on Miriam began after she published two cartoons of Michelle Muscat based on a recent photograph uploaded on the former first lady’s instagram page. One of the cartoons depicted Muscat with the caption, "Thank God for those konsulenzi [consultancies] my dears! Ir-raġel dejjem jikrieh u jien dejjem nisbieħ! [My husband gets uglier while I get prettier!].” This was in relation to a recent story, which claimed that Joseph Muscat was involved in a massive corruption scheme and had received €60,000 for consultancy fees from a Swiss company that had received money from Steward Healthcare.
The second cartoon depicted the couple as an octopus and a mermaid and was titled “Is-Sirena u l-Qarnita [The Mermaid and the Octopus: A grim fairytale]”. Through this cartoon Miriam was referencing the public inquiry report that likened the culture of impunity in Maltese halls of power with that of an octopus.
Shortly after the publication of both these images, Miriam was targeted with what appeared to be a coordinated trolling attack. On her Facebook page, supporters of Joseph Muscat left comments calling her a "wh*re", a "w*tch b*tch" and "pig poop” among other insults. They also falsely accused her of being associated with the Nationalist Party. Miriam also witnessed a mass attempt to report her public page in order to shut it down.
"I am neither intimidated nor surprised by such bullying and hate speech, having witnessed it on other people and when I myself spoke publicly in the past," said Miriam, speaking to a Maltese publication. “I still find it dangerous and unacceptable, especially in our country in which a journalist has been murdered," she added, referring to the brutal assasination of Daphne Caruana Galiza.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns this organized campaign against Miriam Galea and demands that the law enforcement authorities look into it under cybercrime laws. Satire and political cartoons have added to public discourse for a long time. This campaign to attack a woman cartoonist’s character, her dignity, and her professional integrity, is reprehensible. It should be immediately addressed by the Labour Party in the Maltese to protect the sanctity of political discourse in the country.
