2. The case I have chosen is the phone hacking scandal, where In July 2011, The guardian newspaper in England
broke the story that the News of the World tabloid hacked the mobile device of a murdered schoolgirl in 2002.
This outraged the government and the public so much that baron Rupert Murdoch shut down the News Of The
World. By the end of the year many of news corps' executives had resigned or been forced out of their position
by Scotland Yard. Who found investigations of phone hacking evidence in the Yards possession for at least five
years. The News Corp agreed to pay 3 million pounds to the family of the murdered victim.
More than 4,000 people have been identified by police as possible victims of phone hacking by the NoW. The
forthcoming prosecutions, specify 600 identifiable alleged victims. The alleged targets have included
politicians, celebrities, actors, sports people, relatives of dead UK soldiers and people who were caught up in the
7/7 London bombings
On 24 July, the Crown Prosecution Service announced it would be charging eight people with phone hacking.
The group includes Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor and, more recently, David Cameron's
former spokesman. Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, was also among those
charged. Both Ms Brooks and Mr Coulson have said they will fight to clear their names. Rebekah Brooks, her
husband and others also face a separate charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in relation to the
police investigations.
Rebekah Brooks (nee Wade) Former chief executive, News International – Charged
Andy Coulson NoW editor 2003-07 – Charged
Glenn Mulcaire Private investigator – Charged
Ian Edmondson Ex-NoW assistant editor (news) – Charged
And many more
3. I do not agree with the phone hacking scandal because the public have the right to a private life, not to
have things plastered all of the newspapers. The phone hacking went against the law to find the next
“scoop” for the newspapers and has been frowned upon by the public because of the incident involving
Milly Dowler, where the tabloids hacked her phone and deleted messages making the family of Milly
believe that she was still alive somewhere.
On the other hand some of the stories that were put onto NoW were not very serious and could be
mistaken for someone's private life or them just trying to get a little fame. The problem with the phone
hacking scandal is that if people want to complain, who do they turn to. The government? If the
government had to take over then the papers would be ruin and people would not have freedom of
speech because the would only tell you what you want to hear on what should be said. You would never
hear anything about the government again. We can complain to the company (News of the World)
because the people in the highest positions e.g. editor were in on the scandal.
In conclusion I believe that the phone hacking scandal was a disgrace for Britain and should not be
allowed to happen again because it creates problems for everyone as the public and everyone who had
been hacked could not complain to the government because freedom of speech would disappear.
Taking away what making this country different and great.
4. Under the regulation of investigatory powers Act 2000. A person „intercepts‟ a communication by making some
or all of the content of the communication available, while being transmitted, to a person other than the sender
or intended recipient of the communication. The first major conviction under this act for phone hacking came in
2006 when two journalists were given prison sentences following the alleged surveillance of several members of
the Royal Family.
Contrary to the law governing phone hacking, the Data Protection Act 1998 makes it an offence to gain
unauthorised access to information held on confidential databases, telephone accounts and bank
records, punishable by a fine (rather than imprisonment) and with the availability of a public interest defence to
persons in breach of the act. It has been argued that the legislation surrounding phone hacking is now out-
dated and does not provide a contemporary solution to contemporary problems that it is now dealing with.
The recent case involving News of the World has led to questions about how widespread phone hacking really is
in the British press and some clarity in the law has been called for in order to ensure that systematic and
institutional invasions of privacy will no longer be tolerated. Although freedom of expression and investigative
journalism must remain an important part of our society, it is possible that stricter regulations and guidelines
may be put in place in light of recent revelations.
5. After the phone hacking scandal was found out the next few months where spent
finding out who the perpetrators where and finding how deep they were involved so they
could be prosecuted to the full extent of their involvement.
It was a good thing how the phone hacking was dealt with quickly and did not lead to
the government taking over the newspapers. It was a bad thing that phone hacking was
ever allowed to see the light of day and the people involved should be dealt with
seriously.
All that needs to happen is for the people who were involved to be caught and give
justice to the families that have been done wrong and have been violated by the
paparazzi.
6. To conclude the phone hacking scandal started in July 2011and is still going
on till this day but the major issue has been resolved by the government
taking down the NoW for what they have done. The phone hacking scandal
has reached across 4000 people.
I don‟t agree with the phone hacking scandal because of how it violates the
privacy law and how people tried to claim money and fame with the press
saying that they had been hacked for important things when, in fact it was
either a petty problem or they had not been hacked at all bring out the worst
in people.
