State controls on Press would be a green light to tyrants, says top MP
Daily Mail -
- Laws governing the press are a threat to democracy, says John Whittingdale
- Self-regulation must be given a chance, he adds
- Press Association editor: ‘Liberty of the Press is the birthright of a Briton’
State regulation of newspapers would set ‘an extraordinarily dangerous precedent’ that would send a message ‘around the world’ that Press freedom wasn’t worth fighting for, a senior MP warned last night.
John Whittingdale, chairman of the influential Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said Lord Justice Leveson would send ‘a very dangerous message’ if his inquiry into press standards calls for statutory regulation.
In one of the most hard-hitting warnings regarding the Leveson Inquiry to date, Mr Whittingdale said a demand for new laws could encourage autocrats to erode hard-won freedoms around the world.
He told a Society of Editors conference in Belfast that newspapers’ efforts to draw up a more robust self-regulatory system, under the stewardship of Press Complaints Commission chairman Lord Hunt, should be given a chance to work.
That would see papers sign binding contracts to adhere to a much tougher regime to settle complaints, with large fines for those who break the rules.
Crucially, it would avoid passing laws to underpin a new regulator that would ultimately give politicians a way of meddling with Press freedom.
The Conservative MP warned that the introduction of state regulation in the UK could start a domino effect in other nations.
‘I think there is a real danger of that,’ he said. ‘It would set an extraordinarily dangerous precedent. It sends a very dangerous message elsewhere.
Read More: dailymail.co.uk
2012-11-14 07:02:57
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