Read @EmmaLBriant's response to Govt Consultation on proposed legislation in response to "hostile threats" that will reform the Official Secrets Acts which includes espionage offences, unauthorised disclosure of official material & its onward disclosure.
medium.com/@teflpolsoc/re…
medium.com/@teflpolsoc/re…
The proposed changes seek the creation of a Foreign Influence Registration Scheme — a tool similar to the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), to help address opaque foreign influence & lobbying in the UK.
"The measures to expand the Official Secrets Act are far more troubling & as others have suggested would end both whistleblowing & journalism as we know it, along with any ability for the public to make informed judgements about the conduct of this or any future Govt in wartime."
"It's not an overstatement to say the removal of the public interest defence for national security disclosures & onward disclosures would render impossible the scrutiny of activities needed to expose human rights abuses of the kind which have repeatedly occurred in our history."
The Consultation states “measures adopted must respect the human rights framework; recognising, in particular, the need to protect privacy, press freedoms & freedom of expression, which are the core foundations on which our democracy & society are built.” However...
Dr Briant is very concerned that "the UK has already become an increasingly hostile environment for journalism & whistleblowing disclosures in recent years", & concludes with the chilling warning that "the present measures risk democracy itself."
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