Journalists' lobby condemns The Shift News cyber attacks
The Institute of Maltese Journalists (IĠM) has condemned recent cyber attacks on The Shift News, which the website says followed reports on corruption in the government deal on three of Malta’s public hospitals.
The Shift News reported that it had experienced two Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks in the last week, “both of which were aimed at taking the site down and denying public access to news reports on the site.”
The website reported last week that millions had changed hands behind closed doors when Vitals Global Healthcare transferred its concession to Steward Healthcare after less than two years in December 2017.
Read: Finance minister downplays VGH deal concerns
The IĠM's condemnation follows similar statements by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ).
Such acts aimed at stifling freedom of speech were unacceptable, the IĠM said, calling on the relevant authorities to investigate the matter and publish a public report once such an investigation is concluded.
It said it supported the initiative taken by IFJ and EFJ in reporting the attack to the Council of Europe’s platform to promote the protection...