Activists Push ‘Arday’s Law’ to Legally Cap News Coverage of Individuals
Left-wing activist groups are pushing for statutory limits on press coverage following the death of Cambridge professor Jason Arday.
The centerpiece of the campaign is a proposed “Arday’s Law,” which would impose a legal cap on the number of news articles that can be published about a single individual within a given timeframe.
Arday’s fictional claims were investigated by the press, but activists are using this guy’s death to justify greater state regulation of the media.
For example the [deep breath] the Amnesty UK Disabled People’s Human Rights, Anti-Racism, Student Action, Feminist and Queer Rights Network’s, posted that in a statement that for “racialised, Black, disabled and neurodivergent people, particularly those who have been told that our bodies, minds, origins or differences disqualify us from belonging, his achievements represented hope.”
It said that “we need multi-modal protections to hold the line when some people’s humanity is nowhere to be found.”
Even the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), the trade body tasked with protecting reporters and media freedom, joined the push, stating it will continue campaigning for “ethical journalism” including “strengthened independent regulation.”
How exactly would such an article-cap work in practice?
Would these statutory limits apply strictly to “racialised, Black, disabled, and neurodivergent” individuals, or will politicians like
Would they be calling for Nigel Farage to be able to invoke “Arday’s Law” to stop newspapers from writing about him?