UK: Free Press Under Threat

by Samuel Westrop
Gatestone Institute
December 19, 2012

https://www.legal-project.org/3696/uk-free-press-under-threat

Excerpt:

Within Europe, British newspapers have fought hard to be free. In the early 19^th Century, Napoleon -- unable to trust his own newspapers, used as propaganda pieces, to provide him with accurate news -- was forced to read the British newspapers to find out the latest news of his war with the British. The Duke of Wellington, upon discovering this, pressured the British press to withhold certain information. In an extraordinary, early illustration of press freedom, the newspapers refused to comply. While Napoleon's newspapers were dictated to by the regime, British newspapers poured scorn on their own government. In 1662, when Parliament decreed that newspapers must be licensed in order to print, oppressive libel laws were used to silence criticism of those with wealth and power. Despite the best efforts of the establishment, newspapers obstinately continued printing. In 1863, the licensing laws were repealed. Who is the regulator to decide what is in the public interest?

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