A coalition of journalism organisations have severely criticised the new National Security Bill, which they believe could see journalists labelled as spies.
Index on Censorship, the National Union of Journalists, openDemocracy and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) say they fear that the “overly broad and vague” way the bill has been drafted could mean reporters receive lengthy jail sentences.
“The Bill threatens to criminalise whistleblowing and journalism by drawing parallels between public interest journalism and espionage,” explained Nik Williams, Policy and campaigns officer, Index on Censorship.
“While the Government has stated its desire to protect journalism, these assurances are no more than words, with no protections to be found in the proposed legislation. This bill represents a severe threat to media freedom, free expression and the public’s right to know.”
In addition, they say that the bill could be abused by the state to “protect their reputation and obscure public scrutiny and democratic oversight.”
“Journalism is not a crime. It’s a public service – a vital task for exposing wrong-doing and incompetence in government. The fact that this loosely-worded legislation emperils that is worrying in the extreme,” added Stewart Kirkpatrick, Head of Impact at openDemocracy.
They believe that the vaguely defined terms could force journalists to step away from public interest reporting, to avoid lengthy prison sentences – life for espionage and 14 years for foreign interference.
“This worrisome legislative proposal is the latest in a long line of ways in which the UK government continues to crackdown on journalists and independent reporting. Every aspect of this Bill needs to be reconsidered if it is to fully adhere to the protection of journalists that the government claims to commit to,” said Azzurra Moores, UK Campaigns Officer for Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The coalition have requested a meeting Tom Tugendhat, the minister responsible for the bill and have also submitted evidence laying out their objections.
“At no point should journalists ever be conflated with spies, yet Government’s legislation risks setting a damaging precedent for this to occur,” said Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ General Secretary.
“By criminalising journalists for their reporting, the bill poses a significant threat to both public interest journalism and press freedom.”
