Speaking after the UK dropped two places in the World Press Freedom Index this week, the Society warned that creeping legislation and increased surveillance powers is leading to a general erosion of press freedom in the UK.
Ian Murray, Deputy Executive Director of the Society of Editors said: “It is deeply troubling that yet again the UK has fallen in the rankings of the World Press Freedom Index and the government urgently needs to take steps to guarantee press and broadcasting freedom and the public’s right to know.”
The World Press Freedom Index is published annually by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and measures the overall level of media freedom constraints and violations in countries worldwide.
In publishing the Index, RSF cited the passage of the Investigatory Powers Act, proposals to jail journalists under a new Espionage Act and increased surveillance powers as the reasoning behind the UK’s fall.
In the wake of the report, Ian Murray called for the government to reiterate the importance of press freedom in a democratic society and reverse a recent trend in creeping controls on journalists under the banner of protecting national security.
He said: “In the past five years we have witnessed a country that was once judged as a bastion of free speech slip 12 places and this is a direct result of creeping legislation and attempts by governments to tighten their control on the flow of information. It is a worrying state of affairs when journalists in the UK are judged on an international scale as less free to report in the public interest than their counterparts in Ghana, South Africa and Chile.
“From attempts to restrict freedom of information to increased surveillance powers in the Investigatory Powers Act and proposals currently under consultation for a new espionage act, the value and importance of press freedom in the UK is gradually being eroded. Ahead of the upcoming General Election, it is essential that the current government and all political parties guarantee the role of the media in a democratic society and put forward clear and concise steps as to how they intend to reverse this worrying trend.”
