For Science ! (write to your MP)

Basically, libel law in the UK is sometimes used as a weapon by people/companies with money and power to silence people with less money or power, when they say things they dont like.

One example of this is when a blogger reports that homeopathy doesn’t work.

“the international homeopathy producer, Boiron, is threatening a lone Italian blogger because he dared to criticize their product, Oscillococcinum.” – http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/homeopathic-thuggery/

So there is a reform bill in parlement at the moment, which looks to fix some of this.

But.

Conservative MP and libel barrister Sir Edward Garnier is trying to remove the part of the Bill that would limit companies’ ability to use libel threats to intimidate critics into silence and was voted for overwhelmingly in the House of Lords. His attempt to remove this will be voted on during debate on the Bill on Tuesday 14th April.

Please, spend 5 mins of your day to contact your MP and tell them that you don’t want them to support this change.

Of course, it goes much wider than just Science, journalists (even citizen journalists) can face the same intimidation and bully tactics.

So please, take just 5 mins to help push society, science, journalism and knowledge forward.

Do it.

For more details and how to contact your MP :

http://www.libelreform.org/news/541-call-to-arms-to-stop-threat-to-defamation-bill