There is evidence of real fear and reluctance around News International in Parliament: in a 2010 Commons debate, an MP said "we are all, in our own way, scared of the Rebekah Brookses of this world" and "we are afraid" of the media’s power, and a later Commons committee report said News International had misled Parliament and reopened its inquiry into the affair. But the statement is too sweeping if read literally, because Parliament as an institution also investigated the scandal publicly, summoned Rupert and James Murdoch, and debated the issue openly. So the claim captures a genuine atmosphere of fear among some MPs, but overstates it by implying Parliament as a whole was afraid. Sources: UK Parliament Hansard (Commons debate, 9 September 2010); House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee report on News International and phone-hacking (2011). (hansard.parliament.uk)