02 Informed


Michelle’s Message


We’ll continue to fight to protect our sources


devices through “bulk hacking” fatally undermine the ability of journalists to protect their sources. It is hugely disappointing that the


A free press needs journalists to be safe from mass surveillance, says Michelle Stanistreet, as NUJ loses challenge to Snoopers’ Charter


Losing a case is never easy so, when confirmation came that the High Court case brought by Liberty and supported by the NUJ had failed in its challenge against the government’s mass surveillance powers, it was a major blow. The NUJ fought hard against the implementation of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 and we have continued to highlight and campaign against the ongoing dangers the Snoopers’ Charter poses to journalists and journalism. Supporting Liberty’s challenge was an easy decision for the union to take. We know the government’s powers under the IPA – not least the power to intercept the private data of the entire UK population – are far too wide and that the parts of the act that allow intelligence agencies to obtain and store communications data and to take remote control of electronic


court determined that the so-called “safeguards” in the legislation are enough to prevent an abuse of power. Accessing journalistic data in this way – without prior independent authority – very clearly places whistleblowers and sources at risk and makes it much more difficult to hold those in power to account.


But it’s battling that matters, and while


we decide on the next steps towards an appeal, the fight absolutely continues – not least because the NUJ’s work is needed more than ever. At home and abroad, journalism is under pressure and threat – not least from governments passing laws supposedly to keep us safer which at the same time limit or even criminalise the legitimate work of journalists. Journalism risks being the collateral damage of encroaching surveillance and anti-terror measures because it imposes a blunt-force approach to surveillance rather than something more nuanced and targeted. The “trust us” message implicit in the


government’s response in the Liberty case is hugely flawed. Indeed, it was as a result of bringing this case that evidence emerged of MI5’s unlawful handling of data – the security services certainly can’t be trusted to respect or protect our journalistic principles and ethics. That goes for the police too. The


farcical response to the leaking of cables sent by the former British ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, demonstrated yet again how the knee-jerk reaction of the police is to make the press a target of its investigations, expecting journalists


to do their work for them and to hell with their obligations under the NUJ’s code of conduct. Threatening journalists with


prosecution – with no public interest defence – if they published any further leaked cables was a particularly heavy- handed and foolish move that prompted some rapid back-pedalling from the Met assistant commissioner, Neil Basu.


The Mail on Sunday was perfectly within its rights to publish cables sent by Sir Kim Darroch. Its report on President Trump’s motives for abandoning the Iran nuclear deal is indisputably a matter of public interest.


“Journalists are not there to do the bidding of the authorities, or to enable shortcuts in police investigations”


The notion that journalists and editors should take pointers from the police about what they should or shouldn’t report would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious. Journalists are not there to do the bidding of the authorities, or to enable shortcuts in police investigations. Despite the collective gnashing


of teeth and solemn pronouncements about the sanctity of the free press from government ministers and, at that time, wannabe future premiers, the reality is that this government has repeatedly encroached on the rights of journalists and their ability to protect their sources, with secret and draconian surveillance laws that offer scant protections. Here,


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