{"id":36202,"date":"2012-05-09T10:52:55","date_gmt":"2012-05-09T09:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/?p=36202"},"modified":"2016-10-06T11:10:48","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T10:10:48","slug":"queen-announces-a-defamation-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indexoncensorship.org\/newsite02may\/?p=36202","title":{"rendered":"We did it! Queen announces a defamation bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Index is delighted to announce that thanks to our Libel Reform Campaign, the Queen has announced a defamation bill in the next parliament<\/h5>\n


\nThis will be the first\u00a0wholesale attempt\u00a0at reform\u00a0since 1843 and an amazing achievement for the campaign and\u00a0its 60,000 supporters. The bill will open the way to ending libel tourism and protecting free expression for journalists, writers, bloggers and scientists around the world. However, there is still work to be done and we will carry on fighting to make sure that the\u00a0detail in the\u00a0final Bill will truly\u00a0deliver\u00a0reform.<\/p>\n

How you can help<\/h5>\n

We think that the Defamation Bill will be tabled sooner rather than later so it’s really important that we keep the pressure on. Please sign our\u00a0petition<\/a>\u00a0and let \u00a0the government know there is real demand for reform.<\/p>\n

What happens next?<\/h5>\n

The government published its draft Defamation Bill in March 2011, followed by its response to the Scrutiny Committee report on the draft Bill in February 2012. Both fell short of what is needed.<\/p>\n

Over the coming months, the Libel Reform Campaign which represent the efforts of English PEN, Sense about Science and Index will continue to fight for:<\/p>\n

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