Sedition
261. Sedition is a common law offence which is concerned with written or spoken attempts to vilify or degrade the sovereign, the creation of discontent or disaffection, incitement of the people to tumult, violence and disorder, the bringing into contempt of the Government, laws or constitution, and effecting legislative change by the recommendation of physical force. The offence is not a restriction on freedom of speech as it bites only where the language used exceeds the bounds of fair and temperate argument or discussion. Case law suggests that an intention to cause violence must also be proved. The Government believes that the offence may in any case have fallen into disuse.
Broadcasting
262. The Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984 established a new body, the Cable Authority, to license new cable programme services and to ensure, so far as possible, that cable programmes complied with specific requirements in such matters as taste and decency. The obligations are broadly the same as those which already applied to BBC and Independent Broadcasting Association (IBA) programmes. The jurisdiction of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission extends to complaints about cable programmes.
263. In May 1988, the Home Secretary announced the setting up of the Broadcasting Standards Council to act as a focus for public concern about the portrayal of sex and violence in all forms of broadcasting. The Council's five main tasks were to prepare a code of practice on the portrayal of sex and violence and matters of taste and decency; to monitor programmes having regard to these matters; to receive and examine complaints on them and to publicize the findings; to undertake research on these matters; and to publish an annual report on its activities. The opportunity will be taken in future broadcasting legislation to place the Council on a statutory basis and to bring broadcasting within the scope of the Obscene Publications Act 1959.
264. A government White Paper, "Broadcasting in the '90s, competition, choice and quality", was published on 7 November 1988. Responses have now been considered. The proposals in the White Paper will form the basis for legislation to overhaul the present broadcasting regulatory régime. The IBA and the Cable Authority will be replaced by an Independent Television Commission (ITC) and a Radio Authority. The ITC will allocate by competitive tender licences for independent television at the national, regional and local level, including direct broadcasting by satellite. It will exercise lighter control than the IBA and Cable Authority but will still have substantial powers to enforce licence conditions. The Radio Authority will operate on broadly similar lines. The regulatory functions of the BBC and the Welsh Fourth Channel will remain largely unchanged.
265. On 19 October 1988, under powers given to him through the Broadcasting Act 1981 and the BBC's Royal Charter and Licence, the Home Secretary issued directions to the BBC and IBA to refrain from broadcasting statements by representatives of Northern Ireland terrorist organizations and their supporters. The restrictions affected only the broadcasting of direct statements by those concerned. They did not restrict the second-hand reporting of events. The terrorists' activities and the words they uttered could still be reported, just as they were in the written press. The
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