The Home Office recently completed a consultation on potential revisions to the Official Secrets Act and is now evaluating the next steps. The objective of this exercise is to update legislation that was last revised in 1989, taking into account the changes brought about by the digital age.
However, there is concern that the government is using this opportunity to restrict the press by removing the defense that allows the disclosure of confidential or secret information in the public interest.
Naturally, governments have always preferred to suppress embarrassing stories from reaching the public eye. For instance, the current administration would have undoubtedly wanted to conceal CCTV footage of the former health secretary, Matt Hancock, disregarding coronavirus restrictions during a private encounter with a departmental aide. It was crucial to expose the hypocrisy of an individual involved in creating the very laws they violated.
This newspaper’s coverage of the expenses scandal relied on the release of confidential information that could be subjected to the proposed new law, putting journalists and whistleblowers at risk of prosecution and imprisonment.
The Home Office defends its approach by arguing that a public interest defense would undermine their efforts to prevent damaging unauthorized disclosures, which they claim would not be in the public interest. This circular argument assumes that it is the government’s role to determine what is in the public’s best interest. However, history has shown that officialdom often conceals information that the public has a right to know.
Essentially, the proposed measures equate journalists with spies, despite responsible newspapers prioritizing national security. Too many ministers fail to distinguish between their personal or party interests and the information that the public should be informed about. Such a law should not be enacted.
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The Home Office recently completed a consultation on potential revisions to the Official Secrets Act and is now evaluating the next steps. The objective of this exercise is to update legislation that was last revised in 1989, taking into account the changes brought about by the digital age.
However, there is concern that the government is using this opportunity to restrict the press by removing the defense that allows the disclosure of confidential or secret information in the public interest.
Naturally, governments have always preferred to suppress embarrassing stories from reaching the public eye. For instance, the current administration would have undoubtedly wanted to conceal CCTV footage of the former health secretary, Matt Hancock, disregarding coronavirus restrictions during a private encounter with a departmental aide. It was crucial to expose the hypocrisy of an individual involved in creating the very laws they violated.
This newspaper’s coverage of the expenses scandal relied on the release of confidential information that could be subjected to the proposed new law, putting journalists and whistleblowers at risk of prosecution and imprisonment.
The Home Office defends its approach by arguing that a public interest defense would undermine their efforts to prevent damaging unauthorized disclosures, which they claim would not be in the public interest. This circular argument assumes that it is the government’s role to determine what is in the public’s best interest. However, history has shown that officialdom often conceals information that the public has a right to know.
Essentially, the proposed measures equate journalists with spies, despite responsible newspapers prioritizing national security. Too many ministers fail to distinguish between their personal or party interests and the information that the public should be informed about. Such a law should not be enacted.