On August 1st 2019, the newspaper complaints-handler “IPSO” appointed a politician as its Chair. Press freedom advocates around the world recognise that politicians shouldn’t be ANYWHERE NEAR a press regulator or complaints-handler.

Show your support for press freedom: add your name to the petitionYet under IPSO, the work of the vast majority of British journalists will soon be made ultimately accountable to a politician. The appointee, Lord Faulks, was a Conservative Member of the House of Lords for over 9 years and a Government Minister for over 2 years before being appointed. Despite resigning the party whip, he continues to sit in the House of Lords.

Regardless of how well-qualified Lord Faulks may be for the role, Hacked Off believe that it is incompatible with the principles of press freedom for a politician to sit as Chair of a newspaper complaints-handler. In fact, we believe that this appointment represents a serious and dangerous infringement on press freedom.Show your support for press freedom: add your name to the petitionThat’s why we support the Royal Charter system of self-regulation, which explicitly bans political appointments.

But no matter what you think about the Royal Charter system, we urge everyone who believes in freedom of the press to join us in condemning IPSO’s decision to give the keys of a press complaints-handler to a politician.

Join the fight to defend press freedom and click here to ADD YOUR NAME NOW.

*We recognise that journalists at IPSO-member publications and IPSO employees who oppose political interference in press regulation may wish to sign anonymously. Please feel free to do so and sign under the name “anonymous X employee”, or under a pseudonym.