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BORIS JOHNSON denied today that a review of the Official Secrets Act could stop the press carrying out investigations.
Fears have been raised that proposed changes to the 1989 legislation could lead to investigative reporters being classed as spies and even locked up.
But the Prime Minister said he did not think “for one minute” that the proposals would “interrupt the normal processes” of the media using confidential sources.
He told LBC news that the government did not want to put journalists at risk of prison terms under the potential reforms.
A Home Office consultation on changes to the legislation is looking at whether reporters who are given leaked documents should be treated similarly to spies.
Measures to increase maximum sentences for violations of the Act — from two to 14 years — are also under consideration.
The National Union of Journalists warned that the plans represent a severe threat to journalism and that the proposals conflate journalism, espionage and “hostile activity.”
The union called for the government to introduce a public interest legal defence for journalists investigating and reporting on state wrongdoing.
