June 2003
Privacy Debate Hots Up
French celebrities and politicians enjoy more privacy than their British counterparts. In France the press and electronic media are under tight control of what they are allowed to publish. Sometimes the control goes to extreme lengths and on some occasions written consent may be required in order to publish a photograph of a famous person.
In Britain the situation is quite the opposite. Paparazzi have great liberty to photograph whoever they want, whenever they feel like it. Especially the tabloid press is aggressive towards celebrities and often oversteps the line of tastefulness in pursuing photographs and stories of the rich and famous.
However, there have been efforts to enhance British privacy. On Monday 16th June 2003 MPs of the Commons culture committee released a report recommending that privacy legislation should be enacted.
The British culture minister Tessa Jowell was not impressed by the committee's proposal to introduce British privacy law. The minister stated that the government believes that free press is essential for a democracy. Naturally the MPs call for privacy has failed to persuade newspapers either. Some papers call for tougher self-regulation whereas other papers are less willing to give any ground for tighter control.
Briffa comment:
Right to privacy is guaranteed under the European Convention of Human Rights. As the Convention now forms part of English law the British do have right to privacy via Europe. However, if no legislation is passed it will be up to the judges and courts to determine how the law of privacy should be formed.