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| David Cameron backs plans for Ofcom to block 'extremist messages' on TV | David Cameron backs plans for Ofcom to block 'extremist messages' on TV |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| David Cameron has backed plans to give Ofcom stronger powers to prevent the broadcast of “extremist messages” despite concerns from one of his own cabinet ministers that this could amount to state censorship. | David Cameron has backed plans to give Ofcom stronger powers to prevent the broadcast of “extremist messages” despite concerns from one of his own cabinet ministers that this could amount to state censorship. |
| The prime minister appeared to support Theresa May, the home secretary, after the Guardian revealed a split in the cabinet over her counter-extremism measures. | The prime minister appeared to support Theresa May, the home secretary, after the Guardian revealed a split in the cabinet over her counter-extremism measures. |
| Sajid Javid, who was then culture secretary and is now business secretary, wrote to May before the election saying the plan would move Ofcom from a regulator “into the role of a censor” and involve “a fundamental shift in the way UK broadcasting is regulated” from post-transmission to pre-transmission monitoring. | Sajid Javid, who was then culture secretary and is now business secretary, wrote to May before the election saying the plan would move Ofcom from a regulator “into the role of a censor” and involve “a fundamental shift in the way UK broadcasting is regulated” from post-transmission to pre-transmission monitoring. |
| Asked by the Guardian whether he had any sympathy with Javid’s position, Cameron said: “I haven’t seen this particular memo or whatever it is so I can’t really comment. All I know is I think our proposals on extremism are extremely sensible and need to be put into place and I think Ofcom has got a role actually to make sure that we don’t broadcast extremist messages through our media.” | Asked by the Guardian whether he had any sympathy with Javid’s position, Cameron said: “I haven’t seen this particular memo or whatever it is so I can’t really comment. All I know is I think our proposals on extremism are extremely sensible and need to be put into place and I think Ofcom has got a role actually to make sure that we don’t broadcast extremist messages through our media.” |
| His comments are a strong hint that the government’s proposals could yet include a plan to give Ofcom a pre-broadcast veto in spite of Javid’s objections. | His comments are a strong hint that the government’s proposals could yet include a plan to give Ofcom a pre-broadcast veto in spite of Javid’s objections. |
| Downing Street said it is looking at a range of measures to deal with the broadcast of extremist material but insisted that any action would be “taken firmly in mind with the importance of freedom of the press”. | |
| The leaked memo from Javid came in response to a request made by May on 6 March to ministers on the cabinet’s home affairs committee and the national security committee. She was seeking clearance for publication of her extremism strategy, which included the broadcasters’ censorship proposal. | The leaked memo from Javid came in response to a request made by May on 6 March to ministers on the cabinet’s home affairs committee and the national security committee. She was seeking clearance for publication of her extremism strategy, which included the broadcasters’ censorship proposal. |
| In Javid’s letter, dated 12 March, the minister raised concerns about the risk that the revived censorship proposal would be used “otherwise than intended, not least given the difficulty of defining extremism, and the consequent likelihood of the government being seen to be interfering with freedom of speech without sufficient justification”. | In Javid’s letter, dated 12 March, the minister raised concerns about the risk that the revived censorship proposal would be used “otherwise than intended, not least given the difficulty of defining extremism, and the consequent likelihood of the government being seen to be interfering with freedom of speech without sufficient justification”. |
| He went as far as adding: “It should be noted that other countries with a pre-transmission regulatory regime are not known for their compliance with rights relating to freedom of expression and government may not wish to be associated with such regimes.” | He went as far as adding: “It should be noted that other countries with a pre-transmission regulatory regime are not known for their compliance with rights relating to freedom of expression and government may not wish to be associated with such regimes.” |
| The home secretary last hinted at her wish to see the introduction of banning powers after the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich two years ago, when Conservative MPs expressed strong criticism of a BBC Newsnight interview with the radical Islamist activist Anjem Choudary. | The home secretary last hinted at her wish to see the introduction of banning powers after the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich two years ago, when Conservative MPs expressed strong criticism of a BBC Newsnight interview with the radical Islamist activist Anjem Choudary. |
| Related: We need to get tough on extremism – in all its forms | Matthew Goodwin | Related: We need to get tough on extremism – in all its forms | Matthew Goodwin |
| May questioned what the BBC was doing in interviewing Choudary and said the government had to look at the role of Ofcom in relation to “what is being beamed into people’s homes”. But when the prime minister’s extremism task force reported in December 2013, it did not include any moves towards pre-broadcast censorship and the subject was presumed to have been dropped. | May questioned what the BBC was doing in interviewing Choudary and said the government had to look at the role of Ofcom in relation to “what is being beamed into people’s homes”. But when the prime minister’s extremism task force reported in December 2013, it did not include any moves towards pre-broadcast censorship and the subject was presumed to have been dropped. |
| At the time the idea was compared to Margaret Thatcher’s move to tell broadcasters to deny terrorists the “oxygen of publicity”, which led to a full-scale row over a BBC decision to broadcast an extended interview with Martin McGuinness. That led to a journalists’ strike and, two years later, the resignation of the director general. | At the time the idea was compared to Margaret Thatcher’s move to tell broadcasters to deny terrorists the “oxygen of publicity”, which led to a full-scale row over a BBC decision to broadcast an extended interview with Martin McGuinness. That led to a journalists’ strike and, two years later, the resignation of the director general. |