Hacked Off are committed to exposing the failures of the press industry’s toothless regulator.
Corporate national newspapers refused to implement Leveson’s recommendations. Instead they revamped their discredited self-regulator, the Press Complaints Commission, giving it a new name: the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).
IPSO is a sham – it isn’t raising press standards, it is giving editors a continuing license to do what they want.
Hacked Off are campaigning for Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry into police and press corruption to take place.
Part 1 only looked into press regulation, not the specifics of any wrongdoing, the conspiracies or cover-ups. Part 2 could not begin until the criminal and civil trials had been completed, which they now have.
We need Leveson Part 2 if we are to get to bottom of the alleged collusion between police, press, and politicians. Evidence of police corruption and newspapers’ cover-up of widespread illegality cannot be allowed to be swept under the carpet.
Hacked Off are campaigning for the commencement of a key access to justice measure – Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act.
Suing a newspaper for libel or invasion of privacy is expensive. Equally, most small publishers cannot afford to defend themselves against claims by rich individuals or companies.
Section 40 is designed to level the playing field, to provide access to justice for the public whilst protecting investigative journalists from the costly legal threats of rich litigants.
The big newspapers are fighting tooth and nail to stop Section 40 happening. They don’t want those they have wronged to have quick and cheap access to justice.
By Professor Brian Cathcart (@BrianCathcart) A week ago the corporate papers were screaming blue murder about threats of state control. Yet now the government has given itself a real power over them they are silent In all the recent parliamentary debates about Leveson part 2 and the Leveson regulation reforms, the corporate press was…
On the eve of the vote on Leveson amendments to the Data Protection Bill, over 100 leading academics have written to Parliamentarians urging them to back reform. Please find the letter in full below. A letter from 126 professors, teachers and researchers at 35 universities in support of the Leveson amendments to the…
The press industry’s consumer complaints body, IPSO, has announced a new “compulsory” arbitration scheme for national newspapers. This is the third version of the IPSO arbitration scheme. The first two versions have had no takers and the third is unlikely to be any more successful. The announcement comes a few days before a Parliamentary vote on…
06/06/2018 Paul Dacre has announced his resignation as Editor of the Daily Mail. He will become chairman and editor-in-chief of Associated Newspapers. Commenting, Hacked Off Executive Director Dr Evan Harris said, “Mr Dacre’s decision to resign today will bring no comfort to the victims of the Mail’s many years of unethical and bullying conduct. …
22/05/2018 The Judicial Review launched by the victims of press abuse to challenge the Government’s decision to suppress the completion of the Leveson Inquiry has been given permission to proceed. In giving permission, the judge found that the claim had sufficient likelihood of success to proceed on all grounds cited. Permission was not granted for…
15/05/2018 This afternoon, the House of Commons voted to remove from the Data Protection Bill an amendment made in the House of Lords which would have required the Government to complete the Leveson Inquiry. The Government opposed the amendment, although 3 senior MPs rebelled, and their majority was cut to 12. Commenting, Hacked Off…
