libel laws

New PEN president Lisa Appignanesi urges the repeal of Britain’s antiquated law against blasphemous libel. “The government's current attempt, using the threat of prison, to determine what it is permissible to write or say, is misguided.” Might be a bit of a polite understatement.

Under British law, any book bought online in England, regardless of where it is published, is subject to England’s libel laws. As a result, publishers are now becoming concerned about ‘libel tourism’—“foreigners suing other foreigners in England or elsewhere, and using those judgments to intimidate authors in other countries”.