Protection of Media Freedom Debate
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Lord Bishop of St Albans
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Protection of Media Freedom
Lord Bishop of St Albans Excerpts(1 year, 11 months ago)
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Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)
The noble Lord is exactly right and what he says entirely echoes the view of the UK Government. It is outrageous that anyone, particularly journalists reporting on a foreign country, should be subjected to any kind of intimidation—here in the UK or indeed anywhere. There is continuous communication and co-operation between the Foreign Office and the Home Office, as noble Lords would expect, on this and many other issues. Any steps taken by the Foreign Secretary have been taken in line with the Home Office.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans
My Lords, following China’s banning of the BBC World News channel, what advice has been given, as has been given in countries such as Russia, on the use of VPNs and ways around the ban? The importance of broadcasting accurate reporting into China is increasing as we face so many crackdowns on minority groups.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, the right reverend Prelate mentions Russia and China, which are the source of much of the activity and agitation we have seen against a free press, both in those countries and in other countries as a consequence of their actions. The Russian Government’s brutal suppression of freedom of expression and of the media generally is clear evidence of Putin’s desperation to conceal the truth of this war from his own people. We are doing everything we can to expose the Kremlin playbook, including through the new government information cell, detailing how Russia is using the four Ds of disinformation, calling out its lies and contrasting them with verified facts. Through our unprecedented package of sanctions against Russia, we have targeted peddlers of Russian disinformation who push Kremlin propaganda. The Government have already directly sanctioned state media organisations, targeting the Kremlin-funded TV-Novosti, which owns RT, and Rossiya Segodnya, which controls the Sputnik news agency.