The Green party has complained to the press regulator over the use of pictures of refugees by the Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Star and Sunday Telegraph.
Jonathan Bartley, who co-heads the Green party with Caroline Lucas, has asked the Independent Press Standards Organisation whether the titles were justified in printing images of refugees in Calais when they did not know they were over 16.
According to Ipso’s code of practice pictures of children under the age of 16 should not be used unless adult consent has been given.
Bartley argued that the coverage did not qualify as an “exceptional public interest” that would allow the newspapers to override the Ipso code.
“The press regulator must urgently investigate whether those newspapers which published photographs of refugees broke the editors’ code of practice,” said Bartley, in a letter to Ipso seen by the Guardian.
“They should not have printed them without knowing first that they were certainly over 16. This isn’t simply a case of potential rule-breaking, it’s also about press ethics.”
Bartley argued that publishing the pictures contributed to an “atmosphere of prejudice” against the refugees.
“I’d urge all newspapers to think twice before publishing speculative material that fosters further division in our communities,” he said.
The Green party complaint cites editions of the Sun (18 and 19 October), the Daily Mail (18 October), the Daily Star (19 October) and the Sunday Telegraph (23 October).