MPs have been urged to overturn a House of Lords proposal that could threaten the viability of local newspapers.
Speaking in a debate last night on the Data Protection Bill, Borders MP John Lamont said the so-called Attlee amendment, would be a “huge blow to each and every local newspaper in the Scottish Borders.”
The House of Lords amendment to the Bill would mean that all newspapers and magazines not signed up to the state-approved regulator would be liable to pay for the other side’s costs in an action for a breach of data protection rules, whether they win or lose the case.
John Lamont has said that the effect of this could be that newspapers would be forced to stop investigating a story if threatened with legal action because many could not afford to pay the legal costs.
In his speech, he also welcomed other parts of the legislation, which seeks to modernise data protection legislation.
Speaking in Westminster, John Lamont MP said: “If this amendment remains, it would be a huge blow to each and every local newspaper in the Scottish Borders in my constituency.
“As data touches on virtually every aspect of journalism, a legal action relating to almost any action by our press could be dressed up in a way that would take advantage of this provision.
“For all publishers in the Scottish Borders, this could have serious consequences. They would have to stop investigating a story, or print an apology for something that was actually true. The alternative would be going to court and possibly paying the costs, even if they were successful.”
He added that the purpose of the amendment was to incentivise media operators to sign up to regulation in respect of data protection, but that the amendment was “a clunky way of achieving this.”