{"id":95518,"date":"2023-07-20T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-20T07:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/?p=95518"},"modified":"2023-07-20T07:45:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T07:45:00","slug":"how-the-dsma-balances-security-and-privacy-with-press-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cloudnewshub.com\/?p=95518","title":{"rendered":"How the DSMA balances security and privacy with press freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Defence and Security Media Advisory<\/a> (DSMA) committee is a British institution that has been in existence for over a century. First called the Defence Notice committee, it acts as an official mechanism to request news editors to not publish or broadcast certain subjects for reasons of national security.<\/p>\n

In 1993, it was renamed the Defence Advisory Notice committee; 22 years later, the committee was renamed again to the title it is known by today to reflect the inclusion of the intelligence services.<\/p>\n

During the 110-plus years of the DSMA committee\u2019s existence, it has witnessed two world wars, the rise of computers and the widespread adoption of the internet, as well as an entirely new vector for attacks through nation-state-sponsored hacking.<\/p>\n

Brigadier (retired) Geoffrey Dodds OBE, a former Royal Engineer with the British Army, is the current secretary of the DSMA committee and is responsible for the day-to-day operations. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have no specialist cyber background, but I do have knowledge of how government works and, over the last 10 years, I\u2019ve learned to some extent how the media works,\u201d says Dodds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout a military career, you always have to be cyber aware. In 1977, the closest thing we had was probably radio interference and eavesdropping. We are trained to be aware of cyber issues. I\u2019m not a signals intelligence expert, but any practitioner in the British army would know that there is this electronic threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DSMA committee comprises 19 senior members of the UK media and five representatives from the UK government. The committee offer guidance and set policy, which Dodds and his team execute.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery six months, I go back to the committee and report what I have done,\u201d says Dodds. \u201cThey can ask questions and interrogate me at will. I may get a pat on the back or a slapped wrist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the DSMA committee considers all journalistic requests regarding defence and security information, they have five standing notices<\/a>. These are written in broad terms, providing a media-friendly means of defining national security.<\/p>\n

The standing notices, which are topics that are advised to not be reported, cover the following:<\/p>\n