MPs seek to censor the media

MPs seek to censor the media

Exclusive by Kim Sengupta
Monday, 10 November 2008

Britain's security agencies and police would be given unprecedented
and legally binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of
national security, under proposals being discussed in Whitehall.

The Intelligence and Security Committee, the parliamentary watchdog of
the intelligence and security agencies which has a cross-party
membership from both Houses, wants to press ministers to introduce
legislation that would prevent news outlets from reporting stories
deemed by the Government to be against the interests of national
security.

The committee also wants to censor reporting of police operations that
are deemed to have implications for national security. The ISC is to
recommend in its next report, out at the end of the year, that a
commission be set up to look into its plans, according to senior
Whitehall sources.

The ISC holds huge clout within Whitehall. It receives secret
briefings from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and is highly influential in forming
government policy. Kim Howells, a respected former Foreign Office
minister, was recently appointed its chairman. Under the existing
voluntary code of conduct, known as the DA-Notice system, the
Government can request that the media does not report a story.
However, the committee's members are particularly worried about leaks,
which, they believe, could derail investigations and the reporting of
which needs to be banned by legislation.

Civil liberties groups say these restrictions would be "very
dangerous" and "damaging for public accountability". They also point
out that censoring journalists when the leaks come from officials is
unjustified.

But the committee, in its last annual report, has already signalled
its intention to press for changes. It states: "The current system for
handling national security information through DA-Notices and the
[intelligence and security] Agencies' relationship with the media more
generally, is not working as effectively as it might and this is
putting lives at risk." According to senior Whitehall sources the ISC
is likely to advocate tighter controls on the DA-Notice system –
formerly known as D-Notice – which operates in co-operation and
consultation between the Government and the media.

The committee has focused on one particular case to highlight its
concern: an Islamist plot to kidnap and murder a British serviceman in
2007, during which reporters were tipped off about the imminent arrest
of suspects in Birmingham, a security operation known as "Gamble". The
staff in the office of the then home secretary, John Reid, and the
local police were among those accused of being responsible – charges
they denied. An investigation by Scotland Yard failed to find the
source of the leak.

The then director general of MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, was
among those who complained to the ISC. "We were very angry, but it is
not clear who we should be angry with, that most of the story of the
arrests in Op Gamble were in the media very, very fast ... So the case
was potentially jeopardised by the exposure of what the story was. My
officers and the police were jeopardised by them being on operations
when the story broke. The strategy of the police for interrogating
those arrested was blown out of the water, and my staff felt pretty
depressed ... that this has happened."

The ISC report said the DA-Notice system "provides advice and guidance
to the media about defence and counter-terrorism information, whilst
the system is voluntary, has no legal authority, and the final
responsibility for deciding whether or not to publish rests solely
with the editor or publisher concerned. The system has been effective
in the past. However, the Cabinet Secretary told us ... this is no
longer the case: 'I think we have problems now.'"

The human rights lawyer Louise Christian said: "This would be a very
dangerous development. We need media scrutiny for public
accountability. We can see this from the example, for instance, of the
PhD student in Nottingham who was banged up for six days without
charge because he downloaded something from the internet for his
thesis. The only reason this came to light was because of the media
attention to the case."

A spokesman for the human rights group Liberty said: "There is a
difficult balance between protecting integrity and keeping the public
properly informed. Any extension of the DA-Notice scheme requires a
more open parliamentary debate."

DA-Notice: a gagging by consent

The D-Notice system was set up in 1912 when the War Office (the
Ministry of Defence in its previous incarnation) began issuing
censorship orders to newspapers on stories involving national
security.

In 1993 it became known as a DA-Notice with four senior civil
servants, with an eminent military figure as secretary, and 13 members
nominated by the media to form the Defence Press and Broadcasting
Advisory Committee.

Contrary to popular conception DA-Notices are a request and not
legally enforceable. Civil servants fear making the agreement legally
binding would lead to hostility from the media. There would be
apprehension among journalists about new restrictions, as the
committee has in recent times been robust in resisting pressure from
the Government to send DA-Notices if it thinks the motives are
political. At present most DA-Notices are issued regarding military
missions, anti-terrorist operations at home and espionage.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mps-seek-to-censor-the-media-1006607.html

***
WM
www.critest.com
.

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