Broadcast Restrictions in UK

Date: October 19, 1988 • Location: London, United Kingdom

The British government restricted the broadcast of the voices of representatives from Sinn Féin and several Irish republican and loyalist paramilitary groups on television and radio.

From October 1988 to September 1994 the British government banned broadcasts of the voices of representatives from Sinn Féin and ten other Irish republican and loyalist groups on television and radio in the United Kingdom. The restrictions, announced by the Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, on 19 October 1988, followed a heightened period of violence in the course of the Troubles, and reflected the UK government's belief in a need to prevent these groups from using the media for political advantage.