Belatedly i have managed to go through the Liberal Democrat manifesto, in the way I did the Labour and Conservative ones. Some interestingly specific recommendations on hyperlocal media not visible in the other major manifestos, some of which are very similar to those in the work of Carnegie UK Trust, to which Talk About Local contributed. Following from the manifesto:
‘* Use a variety of measures to ensure that there is a vibrant local and ‘hyperlocal’ media to help inform citizens about their local area and their local politics, including:
* Redirecting the current subsidies for ‘local TV’, which have failed to contribute significantly to cultural life.
* Extending Ofcom’s community radio grant support to online hyperlocals, and allowing non-profit local media outlets to obtain charitable status where the public interest is being served.’
Our Freedoms Act will:
* Protect free speech by ensuring insulting words, jokes, and non-intentional acts, are not treated as criminal, and that social media communications are not treated more harshly than other media.
* Work with religious and community leaders, civil society groups and social media sites to counter the narratives put forward by extremists, and create the space for the expression of contrary viewpoints and religious interpretations.
* Extend Freedom of Information laws to cover private companies delivering public services.
* End the Ministerial veto on release of information under the Freedom of Information Act
a Digital Bill of Rights will have enshrined enduring principles of privacy and helped keep the internet open
10.4 Protecting the space for democratic debate
We recognise the importance of a plural and diverse media, free from state influence or from monopolistic or dominant market control, in guaranteeing a vibrant national conversation. We will therefore reform the existing arrangements for safeguarding plurality in the media broadly in line with the recommendations of the 2014 Lords Communications Select Committee report.
We will:
* Give lead responsibility to Ofcom and enable it to conduct reviews periodically, as well as when triggered by proposed mergers and acquisitions, and enable Ofcom to set down conditions to prevent the reach of any media company damaging the public interest.
* Ensure any conditions or requirements that Ofcom lays down following a plurality review can only be vetoed or interfered with by a Minister after a vote of both Houses of Parliament.
* Use a variety of measures to ensure that there is a vibrant local and ‘hyperlocal’ media to help inform citizens about their local area and their local politics, including:
* Redirecting the current subsidies for ‘local TV’, which have failed to contribute significantly to cultural life.
* Extending Ofcom’s community radio grant support to online hyperlocals, and allowing non-profit local media outlets to obtain charitable status where the public interest is being served.
11.6 Standing up for Liberal values
Liberal Democrats believe British foreign policy and international aid should seek to advance human rights and democracy throughout the world. We believe all people – regardless of ethnicity, disability, age, belief, gender or sexual orientation – deserve a freer, fairer and more prosperous world.
We will:
* Continue to support free media and a free and open Internet around the world, championing the free flow of information.
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* Complete the rollout of high-speed broadband, to reach almost every household (99.9%) in the UK as well as small businesses in both rural and urban areas
* Continue to release government data sets that can facilitate economic growth in an open and accessible format, including on standards in public services.
* Ensure the technology implications of government activity are properly considered by introducing Technology Impact Assessments into the policy design process.
* Develop cutting edge digital skills courses for young people and the unemployed working with private sector employers and education and training providers.
ped keep the internet open
* Work to ensure the shift to Digital by Default for public services does not leave people behind, by upholding the highest standards of accessibility in digital services and maintaining government programmes on digital inclusion.
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8.4 Securing liberty online
In the modern digital age, the power of the state and of corporate interests can threaten our privacy and liberty. We have achieved much in rolling back the over-mighty state – passing the first ever Protection of Freedoms Act to restore lost civil liberties, securing the ongoing root and branch review of RIPA and legislating for the creation of a Privacy and Civil Liberties Board – but we cannot be complacent. There will be a complete overhaul of surveillance powers in 2016. We need to ensure this and other opportunities are seized as a chance to control excessive state power, and ensure that in an era when surveillance is easier than ever before, we maintain the right to privacy and free speech. Privacy should always be the norm for personal data, meaning surveillance must always be justified and proportionate and any demand to read private encrypted communications must be targeted and proportionate.
We will:
* Pass a Digital Bill of Rights, to define and enshrine the digital rights of the citizen.
* Safeguard the essential freedom of the internet and back net neutrality, the principle that internet service providers should enable access to all lawful content and applications regardless of the source, and without favouring or blocking particular products or websites.
* Oppose the introduction of the so-called Snooper’s Charter. We blocked the draft Communications Data Bill and would do so again. Requiring companies to store a record of everyone’s internet activities for a year or to collect third-party communications data for non-business purposes is disproportionate and unacceptable, as is the blanket surveillance of our paper post.
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Our Digital Bill of Rights will:
* Enshrine the principle that everyone has the right to control their own personal data, and that everyone should be able to view, correct, and (where appropriate and proportionate) delete their personal data, wherever it is held.
* Forbid any public body from collecting, storing or processing personal data without statutory authority, and require any such legislation to be regularly reviewed.
* Give increased powers and resources for the Information Commissioner and introduce custodial sentences for egregious breaches of the Data Protection Act.
* Ensure privacy is protected to the same extent in telecoms and online as in the offline world. Public authorities should only invade an individual’s privacy where there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity or where it is otherwise necessary and proportionate to do so in the public interest, and with appropriate oversight by the courts.
* Ensure that privacy policies and terms and conditions of online services, including smartphone apps, must be clear, concise, and easy for the user to understand.
* Uphold the right of individuals, businesses and public bodies to use strong encryption to protect their privacy and security online.
* Make it clear that online services have a duty to provide age-appropriate policies, guidance and support to the children and young people who use their services.
William Perrin
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