Posted on 07/20/2021 11:37:17 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
Change to law would remove defense for reporters handed leaked documents
Home Office says it would 'undermine efforts to prevent damaging disclosures'
Maximum jail term for journalists could go from two to 14 years under proposal
Journalists could face prison sentences of up to 14 years for stories that embarrass the Government under plans to reform the Official Secrets Act.
Under a consultation run by Priti Patel's Home Office, which closes later this week, reporters who handle leaked documents would not have a defence if charged under new laws designed to clamp down on foreign agents.
The 1989 act is being updated to take into account the impact of the internet age, especially in the area of speedy data transfer.
Human rights organisations and the Law Commission, which drew up the proposals, say there should be a 'public interest defence' included to prevent the prosecution of journalists who receive leaked documents.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
My take. The powers that be seem to want to regain control of setting the narrative.
"Critics suggested that if the rules were in place now it could have led to a prosecution of the journalists who revealed this month that Matt Hancock was breaking Covid rules by having an affair with his married aide, because it relied on leaked CCTV footage."
Coming here soon.
Disclosure of legitimate secrets should carry a stiff penalty. However, overclassification to protect poor decisions is rampant in government and needs sunlight to expose incompetence and wrongdoing.
How very Soviet of them.
And we have to get our news online because print lies to the max.
No more true stories about Hunter Biden ???
What its no here ??? It’s England ???
Oh well...
Never mind.....
No more true stories about Hunter Biden ???
What its no here ??? It’s England ???
Oh well...
Never mind.....
As Mama Lurkin used to say: Once communists are voted into office they make sure that they can never be voted out.
Coming here soon.
I remember reading about couples who met at Bletchley Park who never told their spouses what they did there for decades after the war because of the Official Secrets Act.
How many lives lost and billions of pounds spent to contain and defeat Stalin only to emulate him a few decades later. Sad. Sick. Twisted.
Only the truth will set you free.
Tell me again why we sacrificed American lives saving Great Britain from the Nazis.
Well one way or another there was going to be a reckoning between the USA and Hitler's Germany.
But when stories like this come out one can argue that we didn't save Great Britain from the Nazis, we just delayed their taking over the government from within.
Exactly how does one go about embarrassing a government? Does it blush, or move its hands to cover its privates?
In this film, Agent 007 (Timothy Dalton) tells M (Robert Brown) that he is resigning from MI-6...
M then reminds Bond that he is still covered by Official Secrets Act...Even after he quits MI-6...
IOW, they can still lie.
A reporter who accepts classified documents is knowingly receiving stolen property,
Wonder if this includes Harry? Probably not, there are two sets of laws the world over.
I doubt it. In the US the overwhelming number of classified documents are given to reporters of the (D-NYT) variety. Democrats would never vote to prosecute them.
The U.K. government want to jail anyone who might expose their crimes and criminal dealings.
Politicians want to jail anyone who might expose their crimes
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.