Cyprus / Complaint No. 13/26/3/2019

Country

Cyprus

Title

Cyprus / Complaint No. 13/26/3/2019

View full Case

Year

2019

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Incident(s) concerned/related

Other forms of hate speech

Related Bias motivation

Migrant status

Groups affected

Migrants

Court/Body type

High regulatory authority

Court/Body

Cyprus Media Complaints Committee (Επιτροπή Δημοσιογραφικής Δεοντολογίας)

Key facts of the case

The Cyprus Media Complaints Committee (CMCC) received complaints from five Paphos residents regarding an article published in two internet papers who had published the letter of the president of an association which used derogatory and racist language against groups of persons and contained incitement for reversing a decision of the city’s municipal council through an undemocratic process. The letter published by these sites referred to a citizens’ protest outside the municipal hall when the municipal council was considering a proposal to build a church inside the city’s main municipal park. The crowd of protesters had gathered outside the town hall in order to express their disagreement with the proposal to build the church inside the park. The letter published, which formed the subject matter of this complaint, suggested that the protesters, described as communists. Muslims, Brotins, Germans and other foreigners, were violent and frightened the members of the municipal council and alleged that the park had become a point of gathering for foreign prostitutes, adding that the protesters would presumably have no objection if a mosque was built in the garden instead. One of the media outlets that had published this letter argued that it was their policy to publish letters from members of the public even if they disagreed with their content and that the letter, in their view did not contain insults or libel.

Main reasoning/argumentation

The CMCC found that the publication of the letter infringed the Journalistic Ethics Code which prohibits language that discriminates against persons on the ground of thier racial origin, religion or belief.

Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?

Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case

The monitoring body clarified that media outlets are not at liberty to publish letters from members of the public which use derogatory language against persons on the ground of thier racial origin, religion or belief, even if the content falls short from amounting to libel. The language used by the author was derogatory with references to the protesters' national origin, muslim religion and political belief and singled them out as enemies of christianity because they objected to the construction of a church in the municipal park. From the responses of the media outlets it emerged that they had little awareness of the requirements regarding hate speech either in the legislation or in the Journalistic Ethics Code.

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

Τhis body does not have the power to impose sanctions. The decision however establishes that media outlets cannot publish letters from members of the public if their content is problematic and that derogatory references to persons on the ground of their religion race/ethnicity or political belief are not acceptable.

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

"Η Επιτροπή αποφάσισε ότι οι αναφορές στην επιστολή σε οπαδούς κόμματος και άτομα διαφόρων εθνικοτήτων καταφανώς συνιστούσαν ρητορική μισαλλοδοξίας, ξενοφοβίας και ρατσισμού, κατά παράβαση των προνοιών του του άρθρου 12 του Κώδικα Δημοσιογραφικής Δεοντολογίας περί αποφυγής δυσμενών διακρίσεων λόγω πεποιθήσεων ή εθνικής καταγωγής ή φυλετικής προέλευσης."

"The Committee decided that the references in the letter to supporters of a political party and to persons of different ethnicities amount to intolerant, xenophobic and racist rhetoric, in violation of the provision of article 12 of the Journalistic Ethics Code concerning discrimination on the ground of belief or ethnic origin or racial descent. "

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