Chris Philp: Police must have zero tolerance for intimidation of journalists

And social media firms must use their power responsibly to prevent inflammatory disinformation from being promoted online

A former policing minister has urged forces to adopt a zero tolerance approach to the intimidation of journalists in the wake of the riots.
Chris Philp insisted rioters and counter protesters who target reporters “must be clamped down on hard” by officers and should end up in prison.
Writing for The Telegraph, he said instances of journalists being chased away from demonstrations by masked men were “deeply concerning”.
His intervention comes after a number of reporters faced harassment and intimidation while reporting on both the riots and the anti-racism protests.
Last week a Sky News journalist was reporting on a stand-off between far-Right rioters and local Muslims in Birmingham when she was interrupted.
Becky Johnson was forced to cut away from the broadcast after a group of masked men surrounded her, with one shouting “Free Palestine”.
The same day Fraser Knight, from LBC, said he had been “chased out of an area of east Birmingham by groups of Asian men who had come out to “protect their community” against a planned far-Right demonstration.”
Journalists were also targeted on the first night of violence in Southport, which erupted after false rumours spread about the identity of the dance club attacker.
Paul Brand, a reporter at ITV, was forced to move by an intimidating crowd while a journalist from the Liverpool Echo was “attacked” by the crowds.
Mr Philp, a former Tory policing minister, said that “the treatment of the press by both the original rioters and subsequent counter-rioters is deeply concerning”.
Mr Philp, who is now shadow leader of the Commons, also urged a crackdown on social media which he said was being used by hostile states to stir up tensions.
He said that online giants had shown “little interest in combating divisive disinformation” and that the Government may need to intervene with fresh legislation.
His remarks come after The Telegraph revealed that Labour is considering reviving a law, dropped by the Tories, that would address “legal but harmful” content.
Under the proposals social media giants would have to either delete or suppress from wider public view material such as fake news that could inflame tensions.
By Chris Philp
The clean-up after the recent appalling riots is underway. Streets will be repaired, shop fronts fixed, smashed glass replaced and those responsible rightly imprisoned. But there is something that may take more to repair: freedom of the press.
As well as the worrying symbolism of books burning in a library set alight, the treatment of the press by both the original rioters and subsequent counter-rioters is deeply concerning.
We have seen members of the press hounded from the streets by masked men, some apparently armed with weapons and some also shouting “Free Palestine”. ITV’s Paul Brand, LBC’s Fraser Knight and Sky’s Becky Johnson have all allegedly been seriously intimidated and harassed just for reporting.
Journalists have been forced to abandon reporting, some having to literally run away from men purporting to “protect their community”. Protecting our whole community is of course the police’s job – it is not the job of masked and aggressive young men.
Masked men telling correspondents to leave while trying to report live is something I never thought we would see in the United Kingdom. This behaviour has no place on our shores. It must be clamped down on hard by police.
We need our press to be able to report freely. The public deserves to know what is happening, particularly at tense and turbulent times.  We need verifiable facts presented by accountable and professional journalists. Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our democracy. Without it, politicians and the public alike can’t reach informed views.
The press must therefore be able to go about their job without risk of being chased away or threatened with violence. Police must have zero tolerance for those who use threats and abuse to intimidate or harass journalists or anyone else (criminal offences under the Public Order Act 1986) or we are descending a slippery slope. Those guilty should end up in prison and the police should do more to actively protect journalists.
We must equally guard against the risk of hostile foreign actors and others seeking to use manipulative disinformation to sow division and create conflict, especially on social media.
Some social media firms seem to have little interest in combating divisive disinformation. The real-world impact of fake news and clickbait shock content on social media is now clearer than ever.
When I was technology minister, I saw how algorithms on social media platforms automatically and actively boost the visibility of divisive and often untrue content because it drives user engagement – and thus revenue. Some of this content originates from hostile foreign entities. It has now prompted riots and intimidation on our streets.
It is the duty of social media firms, who have the power to project content to millions in minutes with profound real-world implications, to use that power responsibly.  If they continue to fail in this duty, then the Government should consider using the law to prevent inflammatory disinformation being algorithmically promoted online.
We can all agree that the violent thuggery of rioters or those who seek to aggressively intimidate others has no place in a civilised country.  All those responsible must feel the full force of the law.
We must now bring our country back together.  As the great American president Abraham Lincoln said: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Without an unhindered free press and responsible social media firms, the national unity Lincoln referenced – the foundation of any country’s vitality – will be that much harder to achieve.
Chris Philp MP served as technology minister and police minister in the last government