MP committee tells press industry: Toughen up regulator or face feared Section 40
A group of MPs has called on the press industry to toughen up its regulator or face the much-feared Section 40.
Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport committee today published a report calling for the industry’s preferred regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), to make itself compliant with recommendations set out by Lord Justice Leveson after his inquiry into press ethics.
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If it has not done so within a year, the committee suggested that Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act should be enacted, meaning that publishers would face paying the legal costs of libel complainants – even if they win their case in court.
The newspaper industry does not want Ipso to be Leveson-compliant, fearing this would represent a step towards state regulation, and has warned that Section 40 could cost the publishers £100m a year.
The committee said: “If Ipso itself were to fall short of what is expected of it under Leveson, the Committee would support the full commencement of Section 40 in one year’s time.”
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In particular, the MPs want Ipso to establish a “low cost arbitration scheme” for complainants, as set out by Leveson.
Newspaper industry body the News Media Association said: “Section 40 should be repealed in its entirety immediately. If enacted, the legislation would have a hugely negative impact on a free press and freedom of speech both in the UK and overseas.”