Edward Snowden

(asked on 30th November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any journalists have been placed under surveillance under (a) Operation Curable (b) any other operation since the leak of classified documents by Edward Snowden in 2013; what the cost of Operation Curable has been to date; if he has made an assessment of the effect of Operation Curable on public interest journalism; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Ben Wallace Portrait
Ben Wallace
This question was answered on 7th December 2017

The use of surveillance powers in any police operation, and the associated costs, are operational matters for the relevant chief police officer.

Comprehensive safeguards relating to the use of covert investigative powers against journalists have been included in the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the associated codes of practice, in recognition of the strong public interest in protecting a free press and freedom of expression in a democratic society.

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