Bad Astronomy

Help UK libel reform

I’ve written about the horrible state of libel laws in the UK before, but there are a couple of new developments:

1) Simon Singh wrote about the issue for the JREF’s Swift blog. He asks people to sign the online petition for reform, and it helps even if you’re not a UK citizen. In general I don’t support online petitions, but in this case it will have a real and important impact; they can present it personally to people who make the laws and show them this is an important issue. I signed. You should too.

2) Simon’s libel case goes before the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday, February 23 (today for most folks reading this). No doubt the major media will be covering it, as it’s a big story. I’ll try to post something here if and when I hear anything.

You can find out more at the Libel Reform website, including how (if you’re local) you can go downtown to show support for Simon on Tuesday morning at 09:45 (here’s the location).