Can you help to get the UK govt to reform their libel laws?
In the age of the Internet, no one who wishes to speak their mind anywhere in the world can afford to be complacent about absurd laws like the UK's libel laws. Things you write in Australia, South America or even that bastion of free speech, the US, can be actionable under UK laws if they are "published" in the UK. And with the Internet, anything you say is published world-wide, so that counts as being in the UK.
And since the UK's libel laws assume guilt and force you to prove that what you said was accurate and not intended to cause loss of prestige/status/public favour for the person suing you, and pay for expensive lawyers to do so, this means that for most people, it's a very effective gag method.
Thankfully, there is hope. A coalition of public interest groups, English PEN, Index on Censorship and Sense About Science, supported by many reputable bodies, including Reporters without Borders, the Publishers Association, the Centre for Investigative Journalism, the British Science Association, the Society of Authors, the Article 19 Global Campaign for Free Expression, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, and many others, are pressuring the UK government for change of their libel laws. They are gathering cross-party support, too, which means there is serious hope for real reform.
So what can you do to help? You can sign a petition. Now yes, online petitions are generally considered fairly low on the totem pole of political lobbying, but the more people signing the petition, the bigger a hammer it is for the people fighting these very bad laws to use. And really, is it that much effort for you to take? Less than five minutes of your time.
Just follow this link: http://www.libelreform.org/sign
Please. It's important.
And since the UK's libel laws assume guilt and force you to prove that what you said was accurate and not intended to cause loss of prestige/status/public favour for the person suing you, and pay for expensive lawyers to do so, this means that for most people, it's a very effective gag method.
Thankfully, there is hope. A coalition of public interest groups, English PEN, Index on Censorship and Sense About Science, supported by many reputable bodies, including Reporters without Borders, the Publishers Association, the Centre for Investigative Journalism, the British Science Association, the Society of Authors, the Article 19 Global Campaign for Free Expression, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, and many others, are pressuring the UK government for change of their libel laws. They are gathering cross-party support, too, which means there is serious hope for real reform.
So what can you do to help? You can sign a petition. Now yes, online petitions are generally considered fairly low on the totem pole of political lobbying, but the more people signing the petition, the bigger a hammer it is for the people fighting these very bad laws to use. And really, is it that much effort for you to take? Less than five minutes of your time.
Just follow this link: http://www.libelreform.org/sign
Please. It's important.