Journalists face 14 years in prison for having leaked official secrets
WHISTLEBLOWERS and journalists could face up to 1 years in prison for handling leaked official documents under proposed legislation drawn up for the Government.
The new law would threaten reporters with the same punishment as those convicted of spying for foreign powers.
Freedom of speech campaigners warned it poses a threat to investigative journalism and democracy.
The proposals by the Law Commission form part of an overhaul of the Official Secrets Act and would cover official data that has implications for Britain’s national interest and international relations.
Information that could affect the economy – including details about the Government’s Brexit plans – could fall within that category and there would be no statutory defence for acting in the public interest.
Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of the campaign group Index on Censorship, said: ‘It is unthinkable that whistleblowers and those to whom they reveal their information should face jail for leaking and receiving information in the public interest.’
Jim Killock, of the Open Rights Group, said: ‘The idea seems to be to criminalise the act of handling leaked documents, which would prevent the public from knowing when the Government is breaking the law.’
The Cabinet Office asked the Law Commission to draw up recommendations for an updated Espionage Act to replace the Official Secrets Act. A 326-page report has
‘Spying as China might define it’
been put on the Law Commission website for public consultation until April 3.
A Law Commission spokesman said it was ‘incorrect’ to suggest that the planned law changes would put journalism at greater risk. The report says journalistic activity is already protected by safeguards.
The spokesman added: ‘The current offences contained in the Official Secrets Act 1911 are broad. We are seeking views on how the law could meet 21st-century challenges while also ensuring people don’t inadvertently commit serious offences.
‘Our provisional proposals include greater safeguards than under the current law in relation to many aspects of the Official Secrets Acts regime.’
But Mr Killock told The Guardian: ‘The intention is to stop the public from ever knowing that any secret agency has ever broken the law.
‘It’s aimed at The Guardian and [US whistleblower] Edward Snowden. They want to make it a criminal offence for journalists to handle a large volume of documents as journalists did with Snowden.’
He added: ‘It’s the mere handling of documents that becomes a criminal offence on the basis of the risk handling those documents causes, not that you actually hand them to a foreign state.
‘So spying becomes possession of secret information. This is not what any of us would recognise as the definition of spying. It’s spying as China might define it.’