Northern Ireland media lawyer Paul McDonnell (@_PaulMcDonnell_) of McKinty and Wright was cited by Lord Lexden in a House of Lords debate. Lord Lexden read out his submission in full:
"The refusal of the Northern Ireland executive to extend to Northern Ireland the remit of the Defamation Act and the legal clarity and free speech protection it brings, is quite simply unjustifiable. Why should the citizens and journalists of Northern Ireland not be afforded the same protection of those in the rest of the United Kingdom, whether they are expressing opinions online or holding government to account. Why as the rest of the United Kingdom embraces the digital revolution, should Northern Ireland be confined by our archaic and unfocused freedom of expression laws?