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From the Communiqué

28 September 2011

Police drop attempt to use Official Secrets Act against journalist in phone hacking scandal

After threatening to use the retrograde Official Secrets Act to force a "Guardian" journalist to reveal her sources in the phone hacking scandal, the Metropolitan Police is holding a closed-door meeting with members of parliament to explain the move, report Index on Censorship and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
17 August 2011

Prime Minister considers banning social media, interferes with journalists' editorial independence

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has responded to social unrest with plans to shutdown social media, and requests for footage of riots from journalists On the heels of riots in England this month, Prime Minister David Cameron's government is looking at banning the use of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook in order to stop suspected rioters from sharing online messages to foment violence. Cameron has also called on broadcasters to hand over unused footage of the riots to police. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warn that censorship does not prevent social unrest, and that sharing personal data with police is a disturbing precedent.

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Campaigns and Advocacy

26 August 2011

ARTICLE 19 calls for repeal of 100-year-old Official Secrets Act

The Act gives authorities broad powers to make information secret and prosecute those who release it without authorisation.
18 August 2011

Government urged not to undermine news media

CPJ urges the U.K. to distance itself from responses taken in repressive countries to social unrest and instead, reaffirm its historical commitment to freedom of expression and of the press.
6 May 2011

IFJ supports photojournalists' fight against arbitrary ban in London

London-based photographers staged a Flashmob outside City Hall to denounce arbitrary restrictions on their work in a city where the banning of photography in many public spaces is enforced by private security guards.

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Reports

1 March 2010

IFJ report on hacking row exposes weakness of UK Press Complaints Commission

An IFJ report into a controversy over illegal telephone hacking in the tabloid press says that the country's self-regulator is in need of urgent reform.
22 January 2009

World Report 2009: United Kingdom




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Alerts

IFJ joins protest against threat to confidentiality of sources from police 21 September 2011 Blanket ban on marches in six London boroughs violates freedom of speech, says ARTICLE 19 6 September 2011 BlackBerry cooperation with police sparks concern over targeting of social networks 15 August 2011 IFJ welcomes inquiries into media ethics after closure of scandal-ridden tabloid 11 July 2011 Panel review calls for limits on "super-injunctions" 24 May 2011 BBC and APTN block satire of royal wedding 4 May 2011 Government aims to "give people's freedom back" in 2011 11 January 2011 Broadcaster banned from police press conference after criticising murder inquiry 7 January 2011 Order to shut down police monitoring website illegal, says ARTICLE 19 18 November 2010 Another journalist denied visa by western government 20 September 2010 Freedom House applauds US law combatting "libel tourism" 17 August 2010 Coalition government promises major reforms for freedom of expression and information 25 May 2010 Supreme Court reaffirms open justice principle and orders identification of terror suspects 28 January 2010 IFJ welcomes "landmark" victory for media freedom 13 January 2010 Defamation decriminalised 17 November 2009 Government begins decriminalisation of defamation, concerns remain for Northern Ireland 21 October 2009 Gag on UK's "Guardian" newspaper lifted 13 October 2009 ARTICLE 19 in landmark open justice and right to know case 13 October 2009 Government to decriminalise defamation 13 July 2009 IFJ condemns new attack on journalists' sources 15 May 2009 Secret inquests threaten accountability, says Human Rights Watch 27 April 2009 Criminal libel laws need to be repealed, says ARTICLE 19 23 March 2009 Photojournalists protest increased restrictions as amendments to Counter Terrorism Act come into force 18 February 2009 Dutch politician and filmmaker Geert Wilders banned from travelling to United Kingdom as a result of his controversial film "Fitna" 13 February 2009 Twenty years after fatwa was pronounced against writer Salman Rushdie, freedom of expression remains threatened, says ARTICLE 19 10 February 2009 See all alerts: United Kingdom
 
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