Government opposes easing election-day political messaging ban

Lawmakers on Thursday got pushback from the government on a proposal to de-criminalise the publishing or reproduction of political content on the eve and on the day of elections. As it stands, the law prohibits political messaging on the eve of, and the day of, elections – on penalty of a prison sentence of up to one year, or a fine up to €5,000, or both. The aim is to prevent the circulation of content that might influence the outcome of elections. The matter came to the fore after a number of people – including candidates for MP – were questioned by police over social media posts they made just prior to the parliamentary elections held in May this year. Akel and Alma have drafted two separate bills aiming to relax the prohibitions and downgrade infractions from a criminal offence – as they are now – to an administrative fine. Akel proposes that infractions be punishable by a fine of €2,000. But the attorney-general’s office said this amount was too low, and also posed the issue of the ability to collect on such fines. Under Akel’s proposal, only paid advertisements and sponsored content would be banned during the so-called ‘silence period’. Regular people, making comments on social media, would be exempt. However, the exemption would not apply to individuals designated as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs). In Cyprus, a PEP is an individual who holds or has held a prominent public function, along with their family members and close associates. This includes heads of state or government, senior politicians, high-ranking government, judicial, or military officials, senior executives of state-owned enterprises, and important political party officials. Meanwhile the interior ministry raised other objections. Officials argued it would be extremely difficult to distinguish between spontaneous personal opinions posted online and organised political campaigning, especially when it comes to accounts operating under pseudonyms. Moreover, criminalising content by PEPs but not by others might pose issues of discriminatory practices. For this reason, the ministry counter-proposes that the infractions remain a criminal offence on the books, but in practice they would be converted into a fine of at least €5,000 – imposed by the Chief Returning Officer. In case of repeat infractions, the monetary penalty would be increased. The House interior affairs committee will continue discussing the issue at a later date.