“The heightened threat of terrorism has in recent years led to further wide-ranging prohibitions in the UK’s legislation. Some counter-terrorism laws ban the gathering of certain information. Others restrict what can be published, inhibiting freedom of expression.” (Ref.1)
Laws are clearly against terrorism and even the UK citizens now are legally obliged to communicate with the police about any information about actual terrorist activity anywhere in the world. Terrorism in UK is defined as “the use or threat of action where the threat is designed to influence the government, or an international government organisation, or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, and the use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.” Terrorism Act 2000, section 1, as amended by the Terrorism Act 2006 and the counter-terrorism Act 2008 (Ref.1) Under the 2000 Act action also “falls within this subsection if it:
1. involves serious violence against a person
2. involves serious damage to property
3. endangers a person's life, other than that of the person committing the action
4. creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public
5. is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system” (Ref.2)
It is also illegal to be involved in any way in terroristic organisation or prompt it. “Act 2006 bans dissemination of terrorist publications and specifically prohibits encouragement through ‘glorification’ of it” (Ref.1) Glorification offence is classed as an encouragement towards the terrorism and it can be punished by up to 7years in prison.
From recent examples of successful prosecution:
Abu Hamza. “On Tuesday 7th February 2006, Abu Hamza was convicted of six counts of soliciting to murder, two counts of using threatening words or behaviour likely to stir up racial hatred, one count of possessing threatening recordings and one count of possession of a document likely to be useful to a terrorist.” (Ref.3) (sentenced to 7 years imprisonment)
“On 24th February 2003, Abdullah El-Faisal was convicted of two counts of soliciting to murder, two counts of using threatening words and behaviour and one count of distributing threatening, abusive or insulting recordings of sound.
He was sentenced to a total of nine years' imprisonment (reduced to seven on appeal)
The defendant is a cleric who in his sermons solicited others to murder. These sermons were recorded onto audiotapes and videotapes, which were then distributed to specialist shops and were available for sale to members of the public.
From the vast quantity of tapes seized by the Police, eight of the most graphic and offensive were the subject of the Public Order Act prosecution. (Ref.3)
It is also “an offence to ‘elicit’ or publish information about someone who is or has been a member of Her majesty’s forces, of the UK intelligence services, or a police officer, if the information ‘is of kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”(Ref.1) Journalists should be careful if for any reason e.g. researching for the story they look into or research any information (like terrorism manuals on internet for example) from sources to do with terrorism as it is an offence to “‘collect or make a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’ or possesses a document or record containing information of that kind.’ “(Ref.1)
Terrorism Act 2000, section 5 empowers the police in assisting in investigation into terrorism and that makes it legally lawful for them to request any materials from media that could be of any use for the investigation.
For example in 1992, Channel 4 and the independent production company Box Productions were fined £75,000 for contempt of Court after refusing to comply with a court requesting to disclose to the police the identity of a source used in a television programme The Committee (part of the Dispatchers series) which investigated into killings in Northern Ireland. (Director of Public Prosecutions v Channel Four Television Company Limited and another [1993] 2 All ER 517) (Ref.1)
It is also prohibited to fail to disclose any person or activity that is involved in terrorism to the police, if failed to do so the maximum penalty would be either imprisonment or a fine or even both.
Relevantly recent example in which a journalist was classed to have got involved into the terrorism activity by making a research was when in 2008, Malik a freelance journalist was required to hand in his materials from the research he had done for his book ‘Leaving Al-Qaeda: Inside the Mind of British Jihadist’. The book was about “Hassan Butt who when co-operating with Malik for the book – had claimed to have been in some way involved, before renouncing terrorism, with an attack in Pakistan which killed 11 people and with recruiting people to a ‘proscribed’ group, (...) “ (Ref.1)
The prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 authorises the system of ‘control orders’ to restrict the liberty of people suspected of involvement in terrorism but who have not been prosecuted.
References:
Ref.1) Banks, D., Hanna, M. (2009) McNae’s essential law for journalists, (Twentieth Edition), ch.33
Ref.2) Home Office website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/home-office-circulars/circulars-2006/008-2006/
Ref.3) CPS site on ‘violent extremism’ – recent terrorism cases: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/violent_extremism.html
