Journalists must be free to investigate terrorism without facing charges

A journalist has had his laptop confiscated by police seeking information on the British-born jihadis he has contacted

(BBC)

It is tempting, but in the end rather glib, to say that the state should do “everything in its power” to track down terrorism suspects. Of course we expect and demand – and, indeed, largely believe – that the intelligence agencies work night and day to keep us safe. But it is within the state’s power to snoop on every citizen’s online life, and it is also within the state’s power, we are today reminded, to force a journalist to reveal details about a confidential source that may later see that person imprisoned.

One of the reasons so little has been heard from British citizens returning from Syria is that news organisations have not been able to offer these people complete assurance that their identity will remain a secret. Under the Terrorism Act 2000, police can breach the privilege between a journalist and their source. Not only that, those journalists who do not pass on information on the committing of a terrorist offence (which, under current law, includes going to Syria to fight against President Bashar al-Assad) face a criminal charge.

The Independent has revealed that the Newsnight journalist Secunder Kermani has had his laptop confiscated by police seeking access to information on the British-born jihadis he has been in contact with. Such pressure constitutes an affront to journalism’s foundational principles, and to the public interest itself. The debate over how to respond to the threat of Isis, as well as manage returnees, will not be aided by such heavy-handedness, and public policy will be the worse for it. Mr Kermani has a right to report without a threat to him or his sources. And we have a right to know.