L41 Response Accepted in Part

Strict Accountability for Published Material

Recommendation

A new regulatory body should make it clear that newspapers will be held strictly accountable, under their standards code, for any material that they publish, including photographs (however sourced).

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The Prime Minister stated on 29 November 2012 that he accepted the principles for independent self-regulation (Oral Statement to Parliament, Prime Minister's Office, 29 November 2012).
- The IPSO Editors' Code of Practice holds publishers accountable for all published material, including photographs however sourced. Clause 1 (Accuracy) and Clause 2 (Privacy) apply to photographic as well as textual content (IPSO Editors' Code of Practice, accessed March 2026).
- IPSO rulings demonstrate application of the code to photographic content, including cases involving paparazzi photographs and images sourced from social media.
- IMPRESS's Standards Code similarly applies to all published material including photographs (IMPRESS, accessed March 2026).
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted in Part
Accepted in Part UK Government
29 Nov 2012

The Prime Minister stated on 29 November 2012 that he accepted "the principles that Lord Justice Leveson has laid out" for independent self-regulation, including "an independent board, a standards code, an arbitration service and the power to demand up-front, prominent apologies and impose million-pound fines." However, he rejected statutory underpinning, expressing "serious concerns and misgivings" about crossing "the Rubicon of writing elements of press regulation into the law of the land." The Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press was granted on 30 October 2013, establishing the Press Recognition Panel as the recognition body. IPSO was established in September 2014 but has not sought Royal Charter recognition. IMPRESS was recognised by the PRP in October 2016. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report

Read Full Response
Note: PM David Cameron responded to all 92 recommendations with a single statement accepting them "in principle" or "in part". No per-recommendation response was published.
Published Evidence

Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Good Progress
27 Feb 2025
IPSO Other

The Editors' Code holds publishers accountable for all published material including photographs. IPSO rulings apply this principle.

View detailed findings

Accountability for published material including photographs is part of the regulatory framework.

IPSO Editors' Code View Source
Source
Inquiry Leveson Inquiry
Report An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press 29 Nov 2012
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Press Primary
Themes & Tags
Weak Government Accountability & Scrutiny Self-Regulation Accountability Photographs Standards
Recommendation age 13.5 yrs
Last formal update 4931 days ago