Journalists' union says PM should uphold EU court's ruling
Theresa May should drop her appeal of the EU court ruling on the Snoopers’ Charter and uphold EU law that protects journalism, said the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The union welcomed today’s ruling by the European Court of Justice on bulk collection of emails and phonecall records – a power granted in the Investigatory Powers Act – being illegal and not justified in a democratic society.
In a statement, the NUJ said:
“The union call[s] on Prime Minister Theresa May to implement the legal ruling rather than further waste taxpayers’ money going to an appeal.”
The NUJ has previously written for Left Foot Forward that the Act – called a Snoopers’ Charter by critics – allows the government to discover journalist’s sources, while Reporters Without Borders, also writing for LFF, called the Act ‘a death sentence’ for investigative journalism.
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet, responding to the ruling, said:
“This is a significant decision by the European court of justice and should trigger a rethink by government.
As things stand, the government and the authorities including the police, home office, department of health and even the food standards agency, can all have access to grab our personal information without our consent.”
She added:
“This is a horrendous situation and it sends all the wrong signals to repressive regimes around the world. The impact on journalists and democracy are profound.”
See: Snoopers’ Charter ‘not justified in a democracy’, rules EU court
See: NUJ: Spying on journalists undermines democracy
See: Theresa May’s Snoopers’ Charter is a ‘death sentence’ for investigative journalism
2 Responses to “Theresa May should drop ‘waste of money’ Snoopers’ Charter appeal, says NUJ”
GodfreyR
Better a secure and safe than sorry
DaveC
There is always one idiot who is in favour of more restrictions, whose mantra is ‘if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear’ isn’t there Godfrey R. Just think back to the rise of Hitler and what happened when the Nazi’s started their purges. I and many others certainly don’t want that type of surveillance back. Everyone has secrets that they do not want publicised.