NEWS RELEASE: Index on Censorship: Royal Charter is statutory underpinning

19Mar13
Responding to the party leaders’ comments in parliament today, Index on Censorship CEO Kirsty Hughes said:“In spite of David Cameron’s claims, there can be no doubt that what has been established is statute underpinning of the press regulator. This introduces a layer of political control that is extremely undesirable. On this sad day, Britain has abandoned a democratic principle”

“But beyond that, the Royal Charter’s loose definition of a “relevant publisher” as a “website containing news-related material” means blogs could be regulated under this new law as well. This will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on everyday people’s web use.

“Bloggers could find themselves subject to exemplary damages in court, due to the fact that they were not part of a regulator that was not intended for them in the first place. This mess of legislation has been thrown together with alarming haste: there’s little doubt we’ll repent for a while to come.”