DA-Notice

A DA-Notice (Defence Advisory Notice)—called a Defence Notice (D-Notice) until 1993—is an official request to news editors not to publish or broadcast items on specified subjects for reasons of national security. The system is still in use in the United Kingdom.

United Kingdom

In the UK the original D-Notice system was introduced in 1912 and run as a voluntary system by a joint committee headed by an Assistant Secretary of the War Office and a representative of the Press Association. Any D-Notices or DA-notices are only advisory requests, and so are not legally enforceable; hence, news editors can choose not to abide by them. However, they are generally complied with by the media.^[1]

In 1971, all existing D-Notices were cancelled and replaced by standing D-Notices, which gave general guidance on what might be published and what was discouraged, and what would require further advice from the secretary of the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee (DPBAC). In 1993, the notices were renamed DA-Notices.

As of 2008, there are five standing DA-Notices and one proposed:^[2]

• DA-Notice 01: Military Operations, Plans & Capabilities
• DA-Notice 02: Nuclear and Non-Nuclear Weapons and Equipment
• DA-Notice 03: Ciphers and Secure Communications
• DA-Notice 04: Sensitive Installations and Home Addresses
• DA-Notice 05: United Kingdom Security & Intelligence Special Services

According to an article in Defense Viewpoints, from 1997 to 2008 there were "30 occasions where the committee secretary has written to specific editors when a breach in the D-Notice guidelines is judged to have occurred."^[3]

Known notable uses

In 1967, there was a political scandal in which Prime Minister Harold Wilson made a misjudged attack on the Daily Express newspaper, accusing it of breaching two D-notices which advised the press not to publish material which might damage national security. When the newspaper asserted it had been advised of no breach, an inquiry was set up under a committee of Privy Counsellors. The committee found against the Government, whereupon the Government refused to accept its findings on the disputed article, prompting press outrage and the resignation of the Secretary of the D-notice committee.

It has been reported that in 1971, four days following the Baker Street robbery, a D-Notice was issued, requesting that reporting be discontinued for reasons of national security. It is claimed that some security boxes contained embarrassing or nationally sensitive material. However, an investigation some years later showed that a request had never been made to the D-Notice committee.^[4] In fact, The Times newspaper was still reporting about the case over two months later.^[5]

In 2004 and 2005, three blanket letters were sent to newspapers advising against publications of countermeasures used against roadside ambushes used by British forces in the Iraq War.^[3]

On 8 April 2009, the Committee issued a DA-Notice in relation to sensitive anti-terror documents photographed when Assistant-Commissioner Bob Quick arrived at Downing Street for talks about current intelligence.^[6]

On 25 November 2010, the Committee issued a note to editors drawing attention to standing DA-Notices 1 and 5 in relation to sensitive documents expected to be imminently released on the website WikiLeaks.^{[7][8][9][10]}

In June 2013, a DA-Notice was issued asking the media to refrain from running further stories related to the U.S. PRISM programme, and British involvement therein.^[11] On 28 October that same year, the topic arose in Parliament, when the Prime Minister made a statement to threaten by judicial means to restrain publication of any further Snowden stories in The Guardian (or by extension, other media).^[12]

Australia

A voluntary system of D-Notices was also used in Australia starting in 1952 during the Cold War period; these were issued by the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Committee. At the first meeting of the Committee, eight D-Notices were issued covering atomic tests in Australia, aspects of naval shipbuilding, official ciphering, the number and deployment of Centurion tanks, troop movements in the Korean War, weapons and equipment information not officially released, aspects of air defence and certain aerial photographs.^[13]

In 1974 the number of D-Notices was reduced to four, covering:^[13]

1. Technical information regarding navy, army and air force weapons, weapons systems, equipment and communications systems;
2. Air operational capability and air defences;
3. Whereabouts of Mr and Mrs Vladimir Petrov; and
4. Ciphering and monitoring activities.

A fifth D-Notice relating to the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) was issued in 1977.^[13]

In 1982 D-Notices were again revised to four.^[14]

• D Notice 1: Capabilities of the Australian Defence Force, Including Aircraft, Ships, Weapons, and Other Equipment;
• D Notice 2: Whereabouts of Mr and Mrs Vladimir Petrov;
• D Notice 3: Signals Intelligence and Communications Security; and
• D Notice 4: Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS).

The Defence, Press and Broadcasting Committee has not met since 1982 although the D-Notice system remains the administrative responsibility of the Minister for Defence.^[13] The D-Notice system fell out of common use at the end of the Cold War but remained in force. The 1995 Commission of Inquiry into the Australian Secret Intelligence Service reported that newspapers confessed ignorance that the D-Notice system was still operating when it was drawn to their attention in 1993 and 1994.^[15]

On 26 November 2010, Australian Attorney-General Robert McClelland sent a letter to heads of Australian media and other organisations proposing the creation of a new system similar to the D-Notice system.^[16] The proposed National Security Legislation Amendment Bill (2014) has been described as an extension of the D-Notice system that would subject journalists who reveal details of intelligence operations to criminal penalties.^[17]

In the Arts

The use of the D-Notice is demonstrated and referenced several times in the first episode of the Black Mirror TV drama series written by Charlie Brooker. The episode is titled "The National Anthem" and within it the UK government imposes a type 5 D Notice to try and stifle a controversial ransom demand that the (fictional) prime minister have sex with a pig to secure the release of a member of the royal family. One of the messages of the script is how ineffective the D notice system is in the age of digital technology and the internet, as the ransom video is uploaded to YouTube and downloaded and disseminated by several people in a viral manner, rendering the D-Notice impotent.

See also

• D-notice affair
• Prior restraint
• Classified information#Australia
• Classified information in the United Kingdom
• Right to be forgotten^[18]

References

Further reading

• Nicholas Wilkinson, Secrecy and the Media. The Official History of the United Kingdom's D-Notice System, (London: Routledge, 2009).

External links

• Official website
• National Archives of Australia
• Dr. Pauline Sadler, "The D-Notice System", on the Australian Press Council News website