Cracking down on mobile phones in prison.
Last year, almost 900 pieces of harmful prison content were found online. This content facilitates continued criminality (extending beyond the prison walls and into the community) causes distress to victims, poses security risks, threatens the safety of prison workers and their families and undermines public confidence in the criminal justice system.
The Prison Media Bill helps to tackle these issues by criminalising anyone posting videos, photos, and audio recordings created inside prisons, no matter where they’re sharing from. This includes drone footage and content filmed inside the prison and then uploaded by someone on the outside. The legislation strengthens existing laws, including the Prison Act 1952.
The Bill creates a new offence which means that unauthorised filming of prison workers on prison land will now be illegal. Our hardworking prison staff, like those at HMPs Garth and Wymott in my South Ribble constituency, deserve to be protected while doing their jobs.
It will also force social media platforms to remove unauthorised prison content.
I'm proud to sponsor The Prison Media Bill. It's about keeping stuff from inside prisons off social media, protecting victims and prison staff and preventing unauthorised filming behind bars. Our laws need to be fit for the digital age of social media and technology such as drones.
This Bill comes alongside a £100m investment in prison security, including scanners to catch smuggled phones and no-go zones for drones near prisons.
