Are you an
online blogger for a business? If so you could face high libel fines, thanks to
the new press regulation deal.
Blogs,
websites and even social media pages could be forced to pay heavy fines should they
fail to sign up to new press regulatory laws implemented under the new Leveson
deal.
WaseemSaddique comments: “New press regulation laws could change the face of online
marketing, whilst the first step seems to affect blogs and websites, there are
rumours that the laws could span across social media sites like Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn and many more.”
New press
regulation laws have been met with a mixed response. The victims of the recent
phone hacking scandal involving the News of the World, which sparked off an
entire review of the UK media sector, are strongly in favour of reducing ‘press
power’, effectively disabling them from, what they perceive to be, an intrusion
of their private lives.
Those opposed
to press regulation argue that it takes away the fundamental freedom of ‘free
speech’, which many consider to be a very dangerous threshold to cross.
The
particular section of legislation likely to impact bloggers and websites can be
found under clause 29 of the ‘Crime and Courts Bill’.
Waseem
Saddique Marketing Services released a statement saying: “The new clause
introduced to the bill states that ‘relevant bloggers or websites are defined
as those that generate news material whereby an individual or group has
editorial control over a publication within an editorial structure.”
Whilst
bloggers would be exempt from damages for comments posted by readers, the fact
remains that bloggers and website owners will now be forced to walk a very thin
line in order to provide articles that are neutral and not necessarily based on
opinion.
Certain
publications, such as scientific journals, student publications and charity
material, such as newsletters, will not be accountable to the new law. Websites
will also be granted immunity on the condition that they sign up to the new
regulator.
In a
statement from the Chief Executive of Index Censorship, Kirsty Hughes, she
said: “This is a dark day for British democracy. This will undoubtedly have a
chilling effect on everyday people's web use. I fear that thousands of websites
could fall under the definition of a ‘relevant publisher’ in clause 29.
Bloggers could find themselves subject to exemplary damages, due to the fact
that they were not part of a regulator that was not intended for them in the
first place.”
In a case
study carried out by Waseem Saddique Marketing Services, they uncovered one
particular blogger who will not be signing up to the regulation roster. Harry
Cole, a political blog writer for Guido Fawkes, said: “I won’t be joining. My
servers are based in the US and should therefore make me exempt from UK press
laws.”
He added: “I
don't see I should join a regulator. This country has had a free press for the
last 300 years, that has been irreverent and rude as my website is and holding
public officials to account. We as a matter of principle will be opposing any
regulator especially one set up and accountable to politicians we write about
every day.”
Waseem
Saddique concludes: “Undoubtedly, this could be the first step towards total
regulation across a number of platforms. This will ultimately change the face
of online marketing, website trends, social media trends and much more. This
could be a tactic that backfires severely.”
Founded in
2007, Waseem Saddique Marketing Services has consistently provided small to
medium enterprises, as well as larger corporate firms, with a range of digital
marketing & online solutions.
