BRITISH OIL FIRM ATTEMPT TO GAG THE GUARDIAN BROUGHT UNSTUCK BY ONLINE ACTIVISM
October 19th 2009 01:36
An unprecedented attempt by British oil trading firm Trafigura to prevent the Guardian reporting parliamentary proceedings has collapsed following a spontaneous online campaign to spread the information the paper had been barred from publishing.
The Guardian reports that Carter-Ruck, the law firm representing Trafigura, was accused of infringing the supremacy of parliament after it insisted that an injunction obtained against the Guardian prevented the paper from reporting a question tabled last Monday by the Labour MP Paul Farrelly.
Farrelly's question was about the implications for press freedom of an order obtained by Trafigura preventing the Guardian and other media from publishing the contents of a report related to the dumping of toxic waste in Ivory Coast.
In last Tuesday's edition, the Guardian was prevented from identifying Farrelly, reporting the nature of his question, where the question could be found, which company had sought the gag, or even which order was constraining its coverage.
But overnight, numerous users of Twitter posted details of Farrelly's question and by Wednesday morning the full text had been published on two prominent blogs as well as in the magazine Private Eye.
Carter-Ruck withdrew its gagging attempt, shortly before a High Court hearing at which the Guardian was about to challenge its stance, with the backing of other national newspapers.
The Guardian reports that Carter-Ruck, the law firm representing Trafigura, was accused of infringing the supremacy of parliament after it insisted that an injunction obtained against the Guardian prevented the paper from reporting a question tabled last Monday by the Labour MP Paul Farrelly.
Farrelly's question was about the implications for press freedom of an order obtained by Trafigura preventing the Guardian and other media from publishing the contents of a report related to the dumping of toxic waste in Ivory Coast.
But overnight, numerous users of Twitter posted details of Farrelly's question and by Wednesday morning the full text had been published on two prominent blogs as well as in the magazine Private Eye.
Carter-Ruck withdrew its gagging attempt, shortly before a High Court hearing at which the Guardian was about to challenge its stance, with the backing of other national newspapers.
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