Thread by @robhastings

🚨 Journalists can't reveal an MP being investigated for alleged rape, nor a Tory donor suing the BBC for his Paradise Papers naming

Is that fair?

Editors and legal experts worry media gagging is worsening

🧵 A thread on my #LongRead for @theipaper: inews.co.uk/news/media/fre…

2) The Government says it wants to protect freedom of the press

But critics say that two of its proposed laws - the Bill of Rights and the National Security Bill - actually risk making things worse

Barrister Geoffrey Robertson KC calls the legislation "squalid" and "dishonest"

3) Journalists have long faced legal obstacles in reporting allegations of wrongdoing

But it became much harder for news organisations to name suspects in criminal investigations in 2018, after Cliff Richard won his privacy case against the BBC

4) Then came last year's controversial ZXC v Bloomberg case

A US business executive working for a UK-listed company already accused of corruption was revealed in the media to be under investigation

But he sued using privacy laws, saying he shouldn't be named - and "Mr ZXC" won

5) As @TimesONeill has written: “Few in the UK media named a well-known Russian oligarch who was arrested in London last month, because of the ZXC implications.

"One wonders if the suspected sex trafficker Andrew Tate would have been identified if he had been arrested in the UK”

6) Another businessman, linked in court to an international money-laundering case, is using ZXC to keep his name secret through the High Court

Robertson says the "ridiculous" situation would stop MP John Stonehouse, who faked his death in 1974, being named in the media today

7) Now Robertson is angry about Justice Secretary Dominic Raab's proposed Bill of Rights

"What sticks in my gullet is that it pretends to be supportive of free speech," he says, as it would do "exactly the opposite of what it pretends to do"

"Secrecy is increasing," he warns

8) Meanwhile critics of the National Security Bill include @NUJofficial, which argues it expands “disproportionate and vague powers”, and @RSF_en, which worries it could lead to journalists with foreign outlets being imprisoned if they share leaked documents

9) And @HumanRightsCtte, with members including @HarrietHarman and @AlfDubs, warns the National Security Bill could have a “chilling effect" on reporters, potentially facing jail for dealing with government leaks

The Government calls these "inflated and spurious claims"

10) @kamalahmednews of @EditorsUK says “alarming" proposals "create a hostile environment for freedom of expression & the public’s right to know"

Ahmed worries “matters of significant public interest will go unreported & those that wish to evade scrutiny will be free to do so”

11) Robertson explains all these issues and more in his fascinating new book: 'Lawfare: How Russians, the Rich and the Government Try to Prevent Free Speech and How to Stop Them'

It was great to speak to him for my article - even as a journalist myself, I felt I learnt a lot

12) For more on the growing threats on the ability of serious journalism to hold the rich and powerful to account, and what the Government has to say in response to critics of its bills, read my @theipaper long read here:
inews.co.uk/news/media/fre…