There are a few ethical and legal restraints within the media sector

which can hold many organisations back but also keep it fair by
helping us keep our rights as the public such as the Human Rights
Act 1998. This law is one, which helps us keep our human rights as
people. It does this by helping us to challenge authorities if they
violate these terms. According to the human rights website, they
quote that there are 13 human rights which are covered by this act.
Here they are

Article2Righttolife

Article3Freedomfromtortureandinhumanordegradingtreatment

Article4Freedomfromslaveryandforcedlabour

Article5Righttolibertyandsecurity

Article6Righttoafairtrial

Article7Nopunishmentwithoutlaw

Article8Respectforyourprivateandfamilylife,homeandcorrespondence

Article9Freedomofthought,beliefandreligion

Article10Freedomofexpression

Article11Freedomofassemblyandassociation

Article12Righttomarryandstartafamily

Article14Protectionfromdiscriminationinrespectoftheserightsand
freedoms

Protocol1,Article1Righttopeacefulenjoymentofyourproperty

Protocol1,Article2Righttoeducation

Protocol1,Article3Righttoparticipateinfreeelections

Protocol13,Article1Abolitionofthedeathpenalty

Thisactmayhavebeenpassedin1998butonlyreallycameintoforceonthe2nd
October2000.Thisacthelpswhentakingsomeoneofahigherpositionofpowerto
courtsuchasgovernment,policeandcouncils.Italsodepictsthateachandeveryone
person,nomatterwho,mustbetreatedfairly.Thegovernmentaretryingtoreplace
thislawwiththeBritishBillofRightsandResponsibilities.Yetthiswouldhighly
weakenourrightsashumansgivingpoliticianstherighttodecidewheneachofthese

fundamentalfreedomswouldactuallyapply.OneexampleofthisistheExorcist
filmwhichwaspreviouslybannedbytheBBFCasthereweremanycasesofpeople
provoked fainting, vomiting and heart attacks in cinemas. After it
was removed from the shelves in 1988 it hit back on after a long 11
years. It was re-released as it was out in cinemas, non of the
previous issues followed as technology had advanced and there
were now a lot more sickening films.
ThePrivacyLawismanythatprotectseveryoneandgivesthemarighttotheirown
privacy.Thesedealwiththecountlessregulations,whichaddresspublicinformation
aboutspecificindividuals;publicandprivateorganizationsalongwiththe
governmentcancollectthis.
OnemainactwhichiscoversthisistheDataProtectionAct1988,thereare8things
whichcoverthisact;
1. Fairly and lawfully processed
2. Processed for limited purposes
3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive
4. Accurate
5. Not kept for longer than is necessary
6. Processed in line with an individual's rights
7. Secure
8. Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection.
There are many examples of this. One main case is the Daily Mirror
phone hacking scandal in which they hacked many different
celebrities phones to find out information, which was then leaked to
the public and ended up having to pay out 1.2million to the people.
The final law, which I am going to cover, is the copyright law, this is
the Designs & Patents Act 1988. It gives the creators of literary,
dramatic, musical and artistic works the right to control the ways in
which their material may be used. An example of a breach in the act
is when an importer of Nintendo modded chips seized 160,000
devices from Wai Dat Chan as they were breaching this law by using
actual games from another creator. As a result of this he was looking
at facing jail time with an extremely large fine.