Several members of parliament have submitted a bill which would provide legal protection for whistleblowers and journalist sources.
As it stands now, Icelandic law on libel and slander allows for someone to not only sue a journalist source but also the journalists themselves, simply for quoting the source, even if they contact the offended party for comment on their side of the story.
Vísir reports that several members of parliament – all of whom having worked as journalists at some point in the past – have submitted a bill which would provide additional protections to journalist sources and whistleblowers.
The reasoning behind the bill contends that informants have played an important role in bringing to light information of great importance to the general public. It is also pointed out that the EU already has a similar law on the books.
The bill in question brings to mind the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, which includes informant protection as a part of a broader aim, but has as yet not been passed.
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