Although the United Kingdom maintained a largely open press environment, conditions for independent media and investigative reporting deteriorated somewhat in 2013. A long-awaited reform of the libel laws raised the threshold for initiating cases and has the potential to curb “libel tourism.” However, a number of negative developments stemmed from the government’s response to the revelations of surveillance by the American and British intelligence agencies. These included a raid on the newsroom of the Guardian newspaper, which broke the story, as well as negative verbal rhetoric and the threat of further legal action against the paper during the year. Meanwhile, the debate surrounding the reform of the self-regulatory framework for print media continued, with several newspaper owners at odds with the decision taken by parliament to establish a new body under a royal charter.