No such thing as right not to be offended, says outgoing press watchdog chief

Freedom of speech must trump individual feelings of distress, reckons Sir Alan Moses

Ipso chair Sir Alan Moses (PA)

There is no such thing as a right not to be offended, the outgoing chairman of the UK’s leading press regulator has said.

Sir Alan Moses, a former lord justice of appeal, said freedom of speech must trump individual feelings of distress or hurt caused by unpleasant opinions.

“If you’re the victim of something that is deeply offensive, it is the most unpleasant, uncomfortable thing that you can imagine,” the 74-year-old told The Times. “But what we have to acknowledge is that, in striking the right balance in this country, there is no right not to be offended.”

The former judge has led the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), which regulates more than 1,500 newspapers and websites since its foundation in 2014.

He suggested complaints about offence was one of the most challenging aspects of the role.

But he said it was vital for democracy that the media be allowed to discuss sensitive subjects such as religion and gender without fear of being censored.

And he described Ipso’s model of “self-regulation with a contract” as the best system available for monitoring the media.

“The alternatives — no regulation or a statutory licensing system — seem to me completely unacceptable,” said Sir Alan, who steps down next week. “The idea that the law should control what newspapers should and shouldn’t say, as the price of being able to publish, seems to me quite wrong . . . and fundamentally dangerous.”

Ipso was established by publishers as an independent self-regulator after the Leveson Inquiry into the conduct and ethics of the press following revelations about tabloid voicemail hacking.

It investigated 507 complaints last year, upholding 71.

Sir Alan is to be replaced by Lord Faulks, a barrister and former member of the Tory party.