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When governments can decide what journalists say, we should all be worried

OPINION: UK National Security Bill is latest in long line of cynical attempts to maintain secrecy and stifle journalism

When governments can decide what journalists say, we should all be worried
The National Security Bill threatens freedom of the press - Scott Mcquaide / EyeEm/Getty
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Journalism, as George Orwell famously said, is “printing what someone else does not want printed”.

But what happens if the someone who doesn’t want your story printed also has the power to put you in prison?

That sounds like the kind of question journalists in places like Iran or North Korea might have to contend with. But it’s a dilemma someone like me, living and working in the UK, could be asking soon, too.