15 Jul 10 | Uncategorized
David Cameron has been using valuable parliamentary time to express his shock and/or horror at a Facebook page dedicated to Northumbrian gunman Raoul Moat.
The group, R.I.P. Raoul Moat you legend! <3, currently has over 35,000 members. Despite what Cameron and Conservative backbencher Chris Heaton-Harris — who raised the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions — imply, it seems at least half the people commenting on the page actually disapprove of Moat having any kind of “legend” status conferred on him.
But details rarely matter when politicians swing into somethingmustbedonery. In a surely pointless move, Cameron has contacted Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg and demand, er, something. What, exactly, we don’t know. A no 10 spokesman has said that the government is “not in favour of censorship”,
Facebook has already clarified its position on the page, saying it’s a forum for debate and does not breach the site’s rules. It seems unlikely that Zuckerburg will budge on this point, and he’d be correct not to.
So the new-ish prime minister will be snubbed. What then? Well, as one caller to Radio Five Live put it last night, if they can block Facebook pages in China, why can’t they do it here? Cameron’s not going to follow China’s Internet policy (as No 10 has made clear), so one wonders what the point of Cameron’s semi-patrician, semi-populist stance is? And where this condemnation of free expression of opinion sits in the coalition’s freedom agenda?
UPDATE: the page’s creator has taken it down, but has said, rather confusingly: “A few of us came to a decision [to take the page down] but it’s going to be up again running.”
Of course, there are still several other similar Roaul Moat groups and pages active on Facebook
15 Jul 10 | Index Index, minipost
Facebook has refused to remove a page dedicated to gunman Raoul Moat following criticism from the Prime Minster. During yesterday’s (July 14) Prime Minister’s Questions Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris called on David Cameron to contact the social networking site and request that the page, which contains a “whole host of anti-police statements” be withdrawn. Cameron, indicated that he would apply pressure for a ban, emphasising that Moat was a “callous murderer” who did not deserve support. However Facebook indicated that they would resist any approach, highlighting that “Facebook is a place where people can express their views and discuss things in an open way as they can and do in many other places. We believe that enabling people to have these different opinions and debate about a topic can help bring together lots of different views for a healthy discussion.” The “RIP Raoul Moat You Legend!” group has attracted over 36,000 members so far although not all posts express support for the killer.
29 Apr 10 | Uncategorized
Former diplomat Craig Murray has revealed that polling company YouGov has accused him of libel.
Murray posted an article last week suggesting that YouGov had “rigged” a poll after last week’s UK election leaders’ debate in favour of Conservative leader David Cameron. The YouGov poll gave Cameron a clear lead over Labour’s Gordon Brown and the Liberal Democrats’ Nick Clegg. Other polls suggested a much tighter result.
Read Murray’s account here
23 Mar 10 | News and features
The Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, will today announce reform of English libel law at a mass lobby of Parliament organised by The Libel Reform Campaign led by English PEN, Index on Censorship and Sense About Science.
The Justice Secretary will outline the Government is committed to a single publication rule; a consultation into whether a statutory public interest defence can be developed in a way which balances competing interests concerning freedom of expression and reputation; procedural changes around rules and practice in relation to service out of the jurisdiction, to deal with “libel tourism” and work on other procedural issues e.g. early resolution of meaning and strengthening the pre-action protocol to stop lawyers running up unnecessary costs.
The commitment by the Labour Government comes after Nick Clegg committed the Liberal Democrats to radical reform on 18 January. Campaigners and now asking David Cameron whether the Conservative Party will commit to reform.
The Libel Reform Campaign is “pleased that action is being taken” but has asked for a commitment from the government to reform:
- A clearer defence of “fair comment” in law;
- Removal of internet chat and interactive online services like blogs from liability
- Preventing corporations and associations from using libel law , restricting them to malicious falsehood.
Jack Straw’s statement and the Libel Reform Campaign mass lobby of Parliament will be held in Committee Room 14 between 2 – 3pm
Jo Glanville, the Editor of Index on Censorship said
Labour have shown a commitment to freedom of expression, albeit a late one, by clearly stating they will reform our libel laws. We’re pleased Jack Straw has taken our recommendations seriously, and has come up with some significant proposed reforms, though we would like to see a clearer fair comment defence and an exemption of corporations from libel law.
Tracey Brown, the Managing Director of Sense About Science said:
It would be ludicrous for any party to suggest we should continue with these unfair and ridiculed libel laws that’s why we’re glad Labour have announced a commitment to reform. We need freedom of speech that we can exercise confidently, to discuss science and medicine or any other subject of public interest. Not semi-feudal laws that tie people up in court for two years and chill public discussion.
Jonathan Heawood, the Director of English PEN said:
We still haven’t heard from the Tories who claim to be championing individual liberty. We hope David Cameron will listen to the 44,000 people who have signed the libel reform petition. The level of popular support for reform shows that this law is not just about journalists but human rights activists, scientists and academics, even mothers chatting online: free expression really is an issue for everyone.
The Libel Reform Campaign is a coalition of English PEN, Index on Censorship and Sense About Science.
