Later today, the Labour government will be presenting amendments to the Media and Defamation Act as part of its proposed press reforms. The reforms being presented in Parliament today, in two separate bills, concern the “committee to protect journalists” and the anti-SLAPP reform.
The government will present legislation which will establish a committee composed of the Police Commissioner, the head of the Security Services, the Brigadier-General and the Permanent Secretary of Home Affairs which addresses the security risks of journalists.
The other bill involves the anti-SLAPP reform whereby local Courts would retain the right to throw away defamation cases against local journalists that are instituted in foreign courts. Another reform in the bill includes the provision that the libel fees of dead journalists are not inheritable.
Some previous articles proposed by the government in this reform, especially the right to private life are not in the bills, but they come up later in separate bills. We will be fielding questions on this matter.
As for the committee to protect journalists, I don’t see the reason why there is the need for a permanent secretary to be its member, who in reality is also politically appointed.
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