Society

Social media users are misrepresenting Fox News coverage to support baseless allegations that US President Donald Trump staged the assassination attempt that disrupted a press gala in Washington on April 25, 2026. A purported Fox Business Network graphic saying 70 percent of Americans believe the gunfire was orchestrated is an altered fake, and online claims that Fox News cut off a correspondent on air because she was revealing a pre-planned plot have been refuted by both the network and the journalist.

A new measure promised to exempt pensioners earning up to €37,000 from income tax

Delia said studies show that Malta’s population averages 800,000 people, but no such studies appear to exist

Amid fierce debate over the new ID cards, a misleading claim began circulating on Greek social media in late April 2025, regarding the validity of the old cards.

Romania’s constitutional court annulled the presidential election in December 2024 after allegations emerged of Russian meddling in favour of far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, who unexpectedly won the first round after shooting to prominence virtually overnight. On February 26, 2025, Romania indicted Georgescu on charges including making “false statements” over his campaign financing and starting a “fascist, racist or xenophobic organisation”. Georgescu denies wrongdoing. The election is to be rerun in May.

March 6, 2025 Valentine’s Day is usually a celebration of love. But this year, the White House put a dark spin on the popular ‘roses are red, violets are blue’ refrain to promote deportations, unwittingly duping several people into thinking its social media Valentine’s Day post was false. Around 14th February, social media users around

Faith in Malta’s police force has come under the spotlight in recent weeks

February 4, 2025 The news of two fatal traffic accidents right at the beginning of the new year thrust long-standing concerns over road safety in Malta back into the spotlight. On Monday 6 January, 25-year-old Alejandro Brincat was killed after he lost control of his car in the town of Attard. On the same day, a

Studies frequently show that youths are unhappy, but few seem to be venturing abroad

With less than four weeks to go until the November 5 election, presidential nominees Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are preparing for the final push in what could be the closest US presidential election in recent history (archived here).

“Two days ago in Samos! (…) Normal landing of 20 to 25 recruits normally!!!!”, said this Facebook post from September 22, 2024, which has since been shared more than 750 times. 

Tilos is home to fewer than 1,000 permanent residents, and is a popular tourism destination in the Dodecanese group of islands in the Aegean Sea. A recent rescue of dozens of migrants and refugees by the port authorities on Tilos led to a clash between the island’s mayor, Maria Kamma-Aliferi, and a tourist, who the mayor claimed had called for the displaced people to be thrown into the sea. The tourist denied this in a Facebook post. 

In a report entitled “Russian influence efforts converge on 2024 Paris Olympic Games” published in June 2024, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Centre (MTAC) said that it had “observed a network of Russia-affiliated actors pursuing a range of malign influence campaigns against France, French President Emmanuel Macron, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the Paris Games”.

Clayton Bartolo made the claim last week. Edward Zammit Lewis said the same thing a decade ago.

July 1, 2024 What do Malta’s former prime minister, a podcaster and a journalist have in common?  They and others are the subject of a new scam circulating locally on social media. Cyber scams are becoming more sophisticated, though this latest one is not particularly ingenious. Consisting of posts identical in form and content, most

Tens of thousands have flocked to the northern city of Thessaloniki for EuroPride between June 21 and 29, after Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption in February (archived here). 

A popular Facebook post said NSO data shows this to be the case

“A photo of Ursula von der Leyen’s grandmother with Adolf Hitler is going viral on social media (…),” says a Facebook post in Greek from March 20, 2024 and shared a dozen times since. It includes a black-and-white image of the woman shaking hands with the German dictator.

“LGBTQ flag-raising in all hotels…‼️‼️‼️ Anger and disgust at the new act of the Mitsotakis government, as revealed in Sunday’s Estia,”  reads a post on Facebook dated April 7, 2024. The post also includes a photo depicting the April 7 front page of the conservative newspaper “Estia”. “LGBTQ flag-raising in all the country’s hotels,” reads the front page headline, with a sub-headline adding: “By order of the Ministry of Tourism”.

“Islamic caliphate of Athens! Kotzia Square – City Hall! Turgut Ozal has finally succeeded!!!!” writes a Facebook post from March 10, 2024 that was shared over 370 times. It includes a photo of a crowd of men praying in Kotzia Square.

“TEARING UP THE FAKE FLAG,” reads a Facebook post on February 27, 2024, which has been shared more than 350 times. Similar posts were shared in English, Spanish, Turkish and Russian. In the video, a man can be seen tearing up and stamping on an American flag in LGBTQ+ colours that had been hanging outside the house of a woman. 

Maltese workers are moving towards white-collar jobs, with foreign nationals taking their place

In January 2024, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a bill aimed at legalising marriage and adoption for same-sex couples. On February 15, Greece’s parliament adopted the landmark reform, making the country the 37th in the world – and the first Orthodox Christian one – to legalise adoption by same-sex families. This is a significant step for the country, as previously, the state did not recognize parental rights for non-biological parents (archived link here).

The video describes the scheme as an easy solution to the rising cost of living

On January 10, 2024, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that his government would move to legalise marriage and adoption for same-sex couples, prompting strong reactions from Greek politicians and the church (archived here). Less than 10 days later, on January 19, the Prime Minister said that the Greek parliament would vote on the issue in February 2024 (archived here).

The video created by a social media user in The Netherlands was shared by a Dutch entertainment site on December 17, 2023 from where it was tweeted by Geert Wilders, the leader of the anti-immigrant Party for Freedom that won the November 2023 elections.

An ongoing pay dispute led to a nationwide strike on Monday

Local authorities told AFP in November 2023 they had for years been considering a plan to have five Greek Orthodox families move to the island. But this was not an open invitation to anyone who wanted to settle there. There was also no offer of free land or tax relief, they said.

Bernard Grech claimed that this was the case in a speech in parliament on Wednesday

The project’s applicants say that it is, but objectors argue otherwise

Some have questioned whether recent searches in areas known to house migrants could be a case of racial profiling

How does Malta compare to cities around the continent?

A series of Facebook posts say that a recent study revealed this to be the case

Legal experts say they have mixed views on the issue

Government says that poverty is decreasing, PN say that a fifth of the population is at risk of poverty

Malta topped the table, but some wondered whether there was more to the victory than meets the eye

Some argue that the introduction of average speed cameras would be more effective

Official data showing the lowest crime rate since 2004 was met with incredulity