Civil Liberties

Miranda Detention Typical of U.K.'s Eroding Press Freedom

This isn't the first incident

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Over the past two years the United Kingdom's press freedom ranking has declined.

In the 2011/2012 Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) index, the UK ranked 28th out of 179 countries, and in the 2013 index the country went down a point ranking at 29 out of 179 countries. …

Much debate led to the draft Royal Charter for UK Press Self-Regulation. The draft document outlines how the UK should devise a self-regulatory body within its longstanding history of media freedom. The UK is now faced with yet another situation that has shocked the international community and shaken the country's press freedom identity for a second time—the detention of David Miranda (assisting his partner, Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald). The Greenwald/ Miranda case, however, flies in the face of the argument of UK press self-regulation and raises great concern over terrorism laws, investigative journalism and the protection of journalists' sources.