The Law Commission has released plans to change the Official Secrets Act. One key idea is that the maximum prison sentence for leakers should be raised, perhaps to 14 years from the current two. Another suggestion is expanding the definition of espionage to cover obtaining sensitive information, as well as passing it on, reports Rob Evans in The Guardian. “At first glance, the Law Commission’s review seems sensible,” says The Daily Telegraph. After all, “many of the laws concerned are old, dating back to the early 20th century”.
However, the proposals will not merely criminalise someone who leaks secret information, but also, “crucially”, somebody who obtains it. This means that “journalists would be exposed to prosecution simply for doing their job”. And “recent experience proves that British officials and politicians are all too willing to use laws and regulations to threaten journalists and others whose work they find inconvenient”.
Indeed, agrees The Guardian. The Commission began researching the area just after the paper’s publication of some of the huge volume of material leaked by Edward Snowden about surveillance techniques. Had these proposed rules been in force at that stage, “Alan Rusbridger, The Guardian’s editor, could have faced criminal charges”.
“There was once another country that considered economic wellbeing and policy as matters of national security,” says The Times. “It was called East Germany and it was the most oppressive policy state in history.” While the government is worried about cybersecurity and “anxious not to jeopardise Brexit negotiations”, neither issue “justifies putting legitimate whistleblowers or journalists who publish their information at risk of jail”. The Cabinet Office should reject the Law Commission’s ideas.