The Defence and Security Media Advisory (DSMA) Committee is a British government liaison advisory body established in 2015 which oversees a voluntary code which operates between the government departments which have responsibility for national security and the media.[1] It has no formal censorship powers, but the notices it issues, typically regarding information sensitive to national defence and still informally known as "D-notices", are widely followed by the British media.
The committee and its predecessors have been known by many different names.
The records of the previous committees are held in the British National Archives.[3]
The Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee issued DA-Notices from 1993 to 2015. The secretary was a former two-star military officer employed from a Ministry of Defence budget and is housed by them (although technically independent) and the committee is made up of senior civil servants and representatives of national media organisations.
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This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: The Guardian now also sits on the Committee. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (November 2021)
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The committee consisted of five government representatives and 16 media representatives. The five government positions on the committee were all ex officio – the chairman being the current Permanent Under Secretary of the Ministry of Defence. The 2nd Permanent Under Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, the Permanent Under Secretary of the Home Office and the Deputy Under Secretary from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were the other officers. The Vice Chairman was chosen by the press members from among their number.
The media representatives were nominated by the following organisations:[4]
On 25 November 2010, the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee sent DA-Notices to UK newspapers[6] regarding an expected major publication by WikiLeaks of a "huge cache" of United States (US) diplomatic cables.[6] Index on Censorship presented this as part of "a harm minimisation strategy the US government has embarked on [with] an impressive briefing campaign, reaching out to allies across the world."[6]
Although Google was at one time a member, the DSMA committee is as of 2024[update] largely ignored by the global "gatekeeper" technology companies.[5] Politico has reported that the committee has internally floated the idea of using OFCOM and the provisions of the Online Safety Act to influence these companies.[5]
