The UK has been ranked only in the third tier of a
new global index of freedom of expression due to what was described as the “chilling effect” of government policies, policing and intimidation of journalists in the legal system. Countries including Israel, Chile, Jamaica and virtually every other western European state were all ranked ahead of the UK in the measure compiled by the advocacy group Index on
Censorship.
The UK was listed as only Partially Open in every key metric for the year 2021 – covering academic, digital and media freedom – based on modelling data from a range of sources including Reporters Without Borders’
World Press Freedom Index, and Unesco’s
Observatory of Killed Journalists. Other factors which lowered the UK’s ranking was the case of
Julian Assange, whose extradition to the US was approved by the high court in 2021 and is still being fought, the existence of a Cabinet Office unit
accused of obstructing the release of material requested by the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), a weakening of FOI rights in Scotland and the treatment of journalists in Northern Ireland, ranging from the killing of
Lyra McKee to police
raids on reporters’ homes.
The ranking comes a month after Hertfordshire police
admitted it unlawfully arrested and violated the human rights of a photographer held while covering climate protests on the M25, one of four journalists arrested while covering
Just Stop Oil protests.
States with the highest ranking (named Open) in the overall measure are clustered around western Europe and Australasia. The UK and the US were ranked with countries including Moldova, Panama, Romania, and South Africa as Partially Open.
A spokesperson for the UK’s Department for Culture Media and Sport said: “The online safety bill poses no threat to free speech. It does not require any legal content to be removed and puts tough new duties on tech platforms to safeguard journalism and protect people’s right to express themselves.”
“That will be a huge improvement on the status quo in which social media firms make arbitrary and inconsistent decisions which impact people’s free speech online.”
Originally proposed by Theresa May, the bill has changed substantially, from its original focus on harms including online abuse and harassment, through to a “triple shield” for free speech in a recent version, which required platforms to offer the right of appeal if posts are moderated.
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