Misconduct in Public Office:Complaints and takedown policy

Last revised 25 May 2026. This policy sets out how to make a complaint about content on misconductinpublicoffice.org and how the campaign responds. It is intended to satisfy the procedural requirements of section 5 of the Defamation Act 2013 in respect of any content not posted by the editor, and to provide a clear route for complaints in respect of content the editor has posted.

Summary

If you believe that something on this site is wrong about you, this page tells you what to do.

• You can complain by email to [email protected].
• You can complain by post to the address at Project:Contact.
• We will acknowledge your complaint within 7 days.
• We will respond substantively within 28 days of acknowledgement.
• You may escalate to a regulator if you remain dissatisfied.

The rest of this page sets out the detail.

Scope

This policy applies to:

• Editorial content published on misconductinpublicoffice.org under the

editorial responsibility of the campaign.

• Documents reproduced or hosted on the site, including court documents,

council papers, and other documentary material.

• Responses, reproduced verbatim, that have been submitted by named persons

under the right-of-reply policy.

• Content posted by users on talk pages or in other user-contributed contexts

(such content is governed additionally by the section 5 procedure described below).

This policy does not apply to:

• Third-party websites or services linked from our pages. Complaints about

content on other sites should be directed to the operator of that site.

• The conduct of the editor outside the campaign.
• Material that has been removed from the site. Material that has been

retracted appears in the page history; it is not republished by being referenced in a complaints procedure.

Categories of complaint

We handle complaints in several recognised categories, and the procedure varies slightly by category.

Factual inaccuracy

You believe that a specific factual assertion on the site is wrong. To make a complaint of factual inaccuracy:

1. Identify the page and the specific assertion you say is inaccurate. A URL,

a section number, and a quotation of the assertion are sufficient.

1. State what you say the correct position is.
2. Provide a source for the correct position where one is available — for

example, a primary document, a contemporaneous record, or another verifiable reference.

1. Identify yourself and your interest in the matter (whether you are the

subject of the assertion, a person with first-hand knowledge, or otherwise).

We will acknowledge within 7 days, investigate, and respond within 28 days. Where we accept the complaint, we will publish a correction in accordance with the corrections policy. Where we reject the complaint, we will explain our reasons in writing.

Defamation

You believe that material on the site is defamatory of you, of someone you represent, or of a body of which you are an officer or member. To make a complaint of defamation:

1. Identify the specific words you say are defamatory and the page on which

they appear.

1. Identify yourself and the basis of your claim (whether you are the subject

of the words, or authorised to act on the subject's behalf).

1. Identify the meaning you say the words bear.
2. Set out the basis on which you say the meaning is defamatory and untrue.

We will acknowledge within 7 days. We will then consider whether the material is defensible on the basis of (a) truth, (b) honest opinion, (c) reporting privilege, or (d) public-interest publication. We will respond substantively within 28 days. Our response will set out our position, which may be:

• That we accept the complaint and will remove or amend the material.
• That we accept the complaint in part and will publish a correction or a

qualified amendment.

• That we will publish your statement of position under the [[Project:Right-of-reply

policy|right-of-reply policy]] but consider the underlying material defensible and will not remove it.

• That we do not accept the complaint and consider the material defensible.

Where we maintain the material, our response will identify the defence on which we rely and the basis on which we have applied it.

Privacy and data protection

You believe that the site processes your personal data unlawfully. Such complaints are handled in accordance with the privacy policy. You have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office in addition to the procedure here.

Copyright

You believe that material on the site infringes your copyright. To make a copyright complaint:

1. Identify the work you say is infringed.
2. Identify the material on the site that you say constitutes the infringement.
3. Confirm that you are the rights-holder or are authorised to act for the

rights-holder.

1. State whether you require removal of the material, attribution, or a licence

arrangement.

We will respond within 14 days. Where we accept the complaint, we will remove the material or comply with the rights-holder's reasonable requirements. Where we contest the complaint, we will identify the basis on which we say the material is published — typically fair dealing for criticism, review, or reporting of current events, or fair dealing for the purposes of news reporting of court proceedings.

User-contributed content (section 5 Defamation Act 2013)

Where the complaint relates to material posted by a user and not by the editor — for example, on a talk page, or in a comment thread — the section 5 procedure under the Defamation Act 2013 applies. Under that procedure:

1. Send a notice of complaint to [email protected]

meeting the requirements of section 5(6) of the Act and the Defamation (Operators of Websites) Regulations 2013: specifying your name, setting out the statement complained of and where it can be read, explaining why it is defamatory of you, and confirming that you do not have sufficient information to bring proceedings against the original poster.

1. We will respond within 48 hours of receipt acknowledging the complaint.
2. Within 5 days of acknowledgement we will contact the poster, where they are

contactable, and ask them whether they agree to removal.

1. Where the poster does not respond within 5 days, or agrees to removal, we

will remove the material.

1. Where the poster maintains the material and provides identifying information

enabling the complainant to bring proceedings against them, we will pass that information to the complainant in accordance with the regulations and may retain the material.

This procedure is mandatory for material covered by section 5. It is set out here so that complainants and posters both know what to expect.

Reproducing material from elsewhere

Where the complaint relates to material reproduced on this site that originated elsewhere (for example, an article from another publication reproduced under fair dealing, or a quoted statement), we will follow the procedure above and will additionally consider whether the original publication has been the subject of a complaint of which we should be aware.

Procedural rights of complainants

In handling any complaint, we commit to:

• Acknowledgement. We will acknowledge receipt of a complaint within

the timescale identified above for the relevant category.

• A named contact. We will identify the editor handling your complaint.

Where the editor has a personal interest in the subject-matter of the complaint, we will identify that interest and explain the basis on which the editor remains the appropriate contact (the campaign being a one-person operation).

• A substantive response. We will not respond with formulaic boilerplate.

Our response will engage with the substance of your complaint and identify the position taken on each point you raised.

• A written record. We retain copies of all complaints, our responses,

and any subsequent correspondence. These are part of our editorial audit trail and are not published, but they are available to regulators and to proper legal process.

• No retaliation. We do not retaliate against complainants by publishing

additional content about them, by referring to the complaint on the page complained of, or by other means. The complaint and our response are separate from continued editorial coverage.

• Right of escalation. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you

may escalate to a regulator. The relevant regulators are identified below.

Procedural rights of subjects

Where the complaint relates to content about an identified person, that person or their representative has, in addition to the above:

• The right to require publication of a response under the [[Project:Right-of-reply

policy|right-of-reply policy]]. The response is reproduced verbatim and is not subject to editorial alteration.

• The right to have the response remain available for as long as the page that

named them remains published.

• The right to have factual inaccuracies corrected in accordance with the

corrections policy.

Escalation

If you remain dissatisfied with our response, you have the following routes of escalation, depending on the nature of the complaint:

Independent press regulators

The campaign is not a member of an independent press regulator at the date of this policy. We are reviewing membership of IMPRESS and will update this policy if and when membership is confirmed. Until then, you may complain to IMPRESS or to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) but we are not formally subject to their jurisdiction.

Information Commissioner's Office

For complaints about data protection, you may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at any time. Their contact details are set out in the privacy policy.

Courts

You retain at all times your right to seek legal remedy through the courts. Nothing in this policy waives or affects your right to bring proceedings, and nothing in this policy is to be construed as a contractual term restricting your access to a tribunal. This policy describes a non-binding pre-action route for resolving complaints, which we encourage you to use, but it does not displace any legal right you have.

Bad-faith complaints

We expect complaints to be made in good faith and supported by what their makers reasonably believe to be true. We reserve the right to publish correspondence from complainants in cases where:

• The complaint amounts to a threat or attempted intimidation.
• The complaint is part of a coordinated effort to suppress lawful reporting.
• The complaint contains material misrepresentation of fact that the

complainant ought to have known to be false.

In such cases the correspondence may be published in full as part of our reporting on the matter. This is a journalistic decision taken in the public interest and is not made lightly. Complainants who write to us in good faith do not need to be concerned about this provision.

Records

We maintain a register of complaints received. The register records the date, category, outcome, and time taken to resolve. It does not include the names of complainants, the contents of complaints, or other personal data. Aggregate information from the register may be published in periodic transparency reporting at Project:Transparency.

Contact

To make a complaint, contact:

• Email: [email protected]
• PGP-encrypted email is accepted; the key is published at Project:Contact.
• Post: address set out at Project:Contact.

Changes to this policy

Material changes to this policy will be flagged at the top of the page and a record of revisions is maintained in the page history.