MALTA Law and Practice Contributed by: Karl Tanti and Christine Borg Millo, AE Legal
2. Advertising Claims 2.1 Deceptive or Misleading Claims
1.10 Taste and Cultural Concerns Under the Consumer Affairs Act and related EU direc - tives, advertising must be truthful, clear, and not mis - leading. This includes avoiding statements that could be considered offensive or culturally insensitive, as such content could be construed as an unfair com - mercial practice. The Broadcasting Act imposes restrictions on the content of advertisements on radio, television, and audiovisual media. Specifically, Article 16K of the Broadcasting Act restricts any form of advertisement that would: • prejudice respect for human dignity; • promote any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation; • encourage behaviour prejudicial to health or safety; or • encourage behaviour grossly prejudicial to the protection of the environment. 1.11 Politics, Regulation and Enforcement While the regulation of advertising in Malta has remained relatively stable, there has been increased scrutiny of political advertising practices in the EU. These concerns have also prompted ongoing devel - opments in the regulations governing political adver - tising in Malta. At the EU level, significant legislative changes have impacted political advertising across member states, including Malta. In March 2024, the EU adopted Regu - lation (EU) 2024/900 on the Transparency and Target - ing of Political Advertising, which will apply in full from 10 October 2025. This regulation establishes harmo - nised rules for transparency and targeting in political advertising, aiming to ensure that citizens can easily recognise political advertisements, understand who is behind them, and know whether they have received a targeted advertisement.
The standards for determining whether advertis - ing claims are deceptive or misleading are primarily derived from the Consumer Affairs Act, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC), and related sector-specific legislation. Under these frameworks, advertising is considered misleading if it contains information that could materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer, lead - ing them to make decisions they would not otherwise have made. A claim is deemed deceptive if it involves false state - ments or omissions regarding key characteristics of the goods or services that are being promoted through the adverts, including price, quality, origin, benefits, or contractual terms. Articles 51C and 51D of the Act provide for several “actions” and “omissions” considered misleading and in breach of the Act. Article 32B of the Commercial Code further prohib - its traders from engaging in any form of misleading advertising. The Commercial Code directly defines and references unfair and misleading advertising as delineated within the Consumer Affairs Act. Furthermore, the Broadcasting Act considers adver - tising that is not immediately recognisable as such as “surreptitious” (or secretive) audiovisual commercial communication. Such surreptitious advertising is pro - hibited as this might mislead the public. 2.2 Regulation of Advertising Claims In Malta, all advertising claims are potentially subject to regulation, whether they are express (explicitly stat - ed) or implied (suggested through imagery, context, or wording). The key standard is whether the claim could materially influence the economic behaviour of the average consumer, namely in line with the Con - sumer Affairs Act. A commercial practice under the Consumer Affairs Act is considered in violation if it significantly distorts, or has the potential to distort, the economic choices of
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