ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the history, operation and major newsworthy events of the D-Notice system in the United Kingdom (UK). The D-Notice system was instituted 'to deal with the publication of Naval and Military news in times of emergency'. The early history shows that the government sought to control the publication of information through a formalised 'old-boys' network rather than risk the odium of overt censorship through legislation. When the D-Notice system was first established there may have been some legitimacy in excluding the general public from knowledge of the existence of the system, but the system remained locked into its wartime origins long after the emergency had passed. Even after the system became known to the general public, there remained the view that the committee members were the best placed to decide what should or should not be made known to the public.
