FEARS have been raised that journalists could be labelled as spies under the UK Government’s new National Security Bill.
A coalition of leading journalism and press freedom organisations has severely criticised the bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.
Freedom of expression campaign group Index on Censorship alongside the National Union of Journalists, openDemocracy and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) state the overly broad and vague way the bill is currently drafted could see journalists branded as spies and given lengthy jail sentences for simply doing their jobs.
The coalition believes the National Security Bill expands disproportionate and vague powers that target journalists and civil society.
They fear that the new legislation will have a “chilling effect” on investigative journalism and severely deter whistleblowers from highlighting wrongdoing in government.
While the bill seeks to completely overhaul existing “outdated” espionage laws, it does not make explicit that whistleblowers will not be subject to the harsher penalties.
The bill makes clear that those who possess information or documents that may benefit foreign powers will face severe penalties, including life imprisonment.
However, while ministers state that the new measures are not designed to target journalists there is no explicit mention of this in the bill.
As such, the coalition is demanding the introduction of a public interest defence in order to protect those who expose genuine wrongdoing in government.
Journalism is not a crime and yet the way the UK police are acting right now you would think it was. The UK government must step in immediately and stop the intimidation and arrests of journalists covering protests #mediafreedom
— Index on Censorship (@IndexCensorship) November 9, 2022
The group has also requested a meeting with the minister responsible for the bill, former Conservative Party leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat.
Stewart Kirkpatrick, head of impact at openDemocracy, said: “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.”
At present, the coalition states that the draft legislation is so far-reaching that any organisation which receives foreign funding, such as foreign news organisations, could be made culpable.
Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said: “At no point should journalists ever be conflated with spies, yet the Government’s legislation risks setting a damaging precedent for this to occur.
“By criminalising journalists for their reporting, the bill poses a significant threat to both public interest journalism and press freedom.”
It comes as three journalists reporting on Just Stop Oil campaigners blocking the M25 in England were arrested by police and held in custody, despite offering to show their press cards.
One of the journalists, Charlotte Lynch of LBC, said the experience was “terrifying” and raised issues about press freedom in the UK.
The Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Police, who made the arrests, has said that an independent force has been requested to “examine our approach to these arrests” and that “additional measures are now in place to ensure that legitimate media are able to do their job”.
