J.K. Rowling tweets of British government’s decision to draw line under press regulation debate

by · April 26, 2014

J.K. Rowling has today posted on her Twitter page that the “government has officially reneged on all assurances made to witnesses before the Leveson inquiry,” posting a link to an article that explains that the British government has made the decision to draw a line under the press regulation debate, which Rowling was part of.

In the article from The Week, the new culture secretary Sajid Javid states that the British government will have “no further role” in the issue and that “it is now a decision for the press what they want to do next.”

His comments are set to anger campaigners like Rowling, who believe that the British press is ignoring Lord Justice Leveson’s calls for tougher press regulation after the phone-hacking scandal shook public conference in the media.

Some eighteen months after the Leveson inquiry finished, government officials are pressing ahead with a new system of oversight based on the royal charter. However, the vast majority of newspaper publishers are committed to a separate regime, the Independent Press Standards Organisation, which will not seek official approval.

Rowling has made her feelings clear on this matter several times in the past, and we will make sure to keep you posted on any further developments in this case.