Terrorism Bill

We agree in principle with wanting to take off the net material that would incite or encourage terrorism, on which there is agreement on both sides of the House. However, we want to preserve the protections put in place by my noble Friends in relation to free speech and freedom of information and a certain degree of protection for the police. The internet is the most extraordinary communication tool. It brings light to some of the darkest places in this world because it circumvents the censorious nature of authoritarian Governments or dictatorships. We laud its freedoms when it suits us, because it brings news and the outside world into those countries where Governments would keep freedom at bay. We object when we see Governments interfere with those freedoms, as we did recently in the early-day motion on China and Google, which I signed. The Government wish to disagree with my noble Friends’ amendment. We believe, however, that free speech is threatened by intervention in what can and cannot be published on the internet. We therefore agree that the safeguards in relation to any removal of material should be strengthened. If the amendment is allowed to stand, the decision to serve a notice will be removed from the constable and will become a matter for judicial oversight. We want to ensure that the mischief that the Government rightly seek to address is confined to that particular mischief.