Journalist Turned Likud MK Seeks Recording Restrictions
Boaz Bismuth, a former newspaper editor and freshman Israeli lawmaker in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, has submitted his first bill, which would restrict journalists from publishing recordings of a person without his or her consent.
Bismuth last year stepped down as chief editor of Israel Hayom, a free newspaper founded by late American Jewish billionaire Sheldon Adelson and widely regarded as a pro-Netanyahu publication. As an erstwhile journalist, Bismuth has come under criticism for attempting to stifle members of his former profession.
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“Putting an end to secret recordings!” Bismuth wrote on Twitter. “Today I submitted an amendment to a bill in which I seek to determine that even the act of publicly publishing a recording of a person would be a criminal offense! In the technological age in which we live, anyone can record a conversation that includes sensitive content and publish it publicly. The amendment to the law will guarantee that the publication of such a recording would be considered a serious violation of privacy.”
The bill calls for a jail sentence of up to five years for violations.
