Morgan wants criminal sanctions for defamation

Government senator Marlon Morgan has called for the reintroduction of criminal sanctions for defamation in Jamaica.

Making his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Upper House on Friday, Morgan took aim at the parliamentary Opposition and those he referred to as their surrogates and supporters on social media, blasting them for tarnishing people’s reputation.

He warned that the misinformation and disinformation being peddled by these persons serve to undermine the country’s democracy.

“They have the effect of eroding public trust, distorting truth and facts, presenting false narratives, and besmirching people’s good name and reputation,” he declared.

According to Morgan, the People’s National Party’s (PNP’s) “surrogates and deplorables on social media” were using misinformation and disinformation as tools of political manoeuvring.

“Jamaica is in urgent need of criminal sanction for defamation,” he said.

ABOLISHMENT OF CRIMINAL DEFAMATION

After strong lobbying from the media and other interest groups, the Government abolished criminal defamation in November 2013, with the approval of the Defamation Act 2013.

Morgan, the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, said the PNP bloggers had a “palpable resentment of the police” and were driven by a desire to undermine the successes of the security forces in driving down murders to 30-year lows in Jamaica.

“They deliberately juxtapose at every turn the issue of police fatal shootings with the reductions in murders to intimate that the police is doing something untoward in all instances,” he said.

He indicated that the Independent Commission of Investigations was established to probe questionable police fatal shootings.

He charged that, in the wake of a deadly confrontation in St Catherine last week, “well-known PNP bloggers can be seen and heard across social media platforms rejoicing at the murder of Corporal [Trevoy] Shaw and Constable [Devoney] Rose”.

“Frightening and decrepit though it is, this is a feature of the state of the nation,” he said.

Morgan added: “Jamaica has a power-hungry parliamentary Opposition who is prepared to go to any lengths at all, perhaps as far as to burn the country down so that they can rule over the ashes.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com