British journalist could face years in prison for refusing to hand over his passwords to the police

11 comments

1. [removed]

2. The problem with this offence is there is no defence to it.

   There might be a time where it’s reasonable to expect the Police and Border Force have access to a phone but others (such as protecting a client or journalistic content where handing over this information could violate their privacy)

   There ought to be some journalistic protection and assurance that no data will be retained after inspection.

   In reality data is obtained and then shared with five-eyes intelligence alliance via the Phantom Parrot program.

   There is a good documentary that goes by the same name that taught me all about this!

3. So am I right in thinking that they are trying to get information on legit terrorists? And they aren’t abusing laws arounud terrorism?

4. This guy is a conspiracy theorist, not a journalist.

5. I feel this guy would win if he took the police to court. They’re just chancing their luck. 

6. Imagine being surprised that hindering a police investigation is a crime.

7. Richard Medhurst is a pro-Iranian commentator.

   He has contributed to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news site.

   He defended the actions of Hamas following the October 7 terror attacks.

   He compared the Hamas to the French resistance citing an occasion they blew up a cafe full of “Nazi officers.”

   He was photographed on May 20 in front of weaponry including missiles in Tehran for a post on X/Twitter. Medhurst wrote under the photo:” Hello from Iran, anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist capital of the world.”

   Medhurst has regularly casts doubt on the connection between Jews and the land of Israel and has also spread conspiracy theories regarding Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, including by insisting that there were no acts of sexual violence committed.

   [https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/pro-iranian-activist-detained-at-heathrow-over-claims-he-supportive-of-a-proscribed-organisation/](https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/pro-iranian-activist-detained-at-heathrow-over-claims-he-supportive-of-a-proscribed-organisation/)

8. Surely hiding your password is a crime.

   Otherwise we could all just commit crimes and not hand our passwords over and be perfectly safe. 

   What’s he hiding? Images and videos of children? Terrorism? Torture? Executions? Child trafficking? Organ harvesting? 

   I was mistakenly arrested a few years ago for burglary, I gave them my password and they checked my pc and phone and then released me. It was pretty simple.

   I always think people who don’t cooperate are guilty, my freedom and innocence is far more important to me than hiding my search history and nude selfies from the police or whatever other normal people are worried they might see. 

9. This is one of those cases where you end up defending the rights of scoundrels because they are the same rights we all rely on.

   This should not be an offence, even if you’re a terrorist sympathiser, which he does seem to be walking a fine line on. There is a legitimate argument that the authorities should be allowed to access your digital devices if they have reasonable suspicion that you actually carried out or planned terrorist offences, but mere “support” shouldn’t be on the list of offences that require you to hand over unlock codes.

10. Nobody here can judge this case because nobody here knows what evidence the police have.

11. Richard Medhurst is a 5th columnist, not a journalist.

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