OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir on Friday welcomed yesterday's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which determined that the UK Investigatory Powers Act threatened the confidentiality of journalists' sources.
VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2018) OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir on Friday welcomed yesterday's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which determined that the UK Investigatory Powers Act threatened the confidentiality of journalists' sources.
The ECHR ruled on Thursday that the bulk collection of data from communications service providers by the UK intelligence violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights as there were "insufficient safeguards in respect of confidential journalistic material."
"I welcome the Court's decision, which reinforces the importance of protecting freedom of expression and the media. This law provided the intelligence services with an overbroad capability to search journalists' records and sources without judicial oversight. It is imperative that any legislation that allows government surveillance includes guarantees that the confidentiality of journalists' sources is maintained," Desir said in the statement.
The court case is based on three applications filed by a coalition of rights groups and organizations, including Amnesty International and Big Brother Watch, against the United Kingdom. The applications were lodged following former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden's revelations that the UK Government Communications Headquarters' (GCHQ) was running an operation called Tempora that allowed it to tap into and store large volumes of data, including phone calls, messages and internet communication.
