A Vice Media reporter must provide the RCMP with copies of on-the-record communications with an accused terrorist, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday in a decision experts say does little to change the status quo for instances when journalists are forced to turn over material to the police.

In its 9-0 ruling the court acknowledged the potential chilling effects of such a production order on both journalists and sources, but said, in this particular case involving a deliberately non-confidential source, the “state’s interest in the investigation and prosecution of crime outweighed the media’s right to privacy in gathering and disseminating the news.”

The case stemmed from a 2015 production order obtained by the RCMP demanding reporter Ben Makuch and Vice Media produce screen captures of messages Makuch exchanged with Farah Mohamed Shirdon, a Canadian who allegedly left Calgary to join Daesh in Syria.

Makuch wrote three articles about Shirdon in 2014 based on interviews conducted over the messaging service Kik. The RCMP said the messages were needed to investigate Shirdon, who may now be dead, for terrorism offences.

Vice Media and Makuch fought the production order, but their application was dismissed, a decision upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Makuch argued that all the relevant information had been published and an order requiring him to provide his interview material for the purposes of a criminal investigation would inhibit his ability to gather news and build relationships with sources, especially in a “network of militants.”

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However, in upholding the production order, the court found the requested material would not reveal a confidential source or communications that were “off the record” or “not for attribution.” Rather, Shirdon “used the media to publicize his activities with a terrorist organization as a sort of spokesperson.” The decision also noted there was no alternative source to obtain the material.

“The Toronto Star will continue to absolutely protect confidential sources and will not disclose them,” said Bert Bruser, the Star’s newsroom lawyer.

The decision did not consider the Journalistic Sources Protection Act, which came into effect last year and provides safeguards against the disclosure of confidential sources.

“The court more or less held the line on the law governing how and when journalists will be forced to turn over material to police,” said lawyer Justin Safayeni who made submissions in the case on behalf of a media coalition including Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and Postmedia.

The judges were not convinced that the “very act of a journalist being seen to turn over records to the police to use to prosecute their own source is sufficiently serious that it is going to hurt the ability of the media to gather news and report stories in the public interest,” he said.

Lawyer Cara Zwibel, who represented Canadian Civil Liberties Association in the case, said that, while the decision was not what she hoped, it leaves her cautiously optimistic that future lower court decisions may be less likely to tip in favour of the police.

“The court did try to push the needle a little bit on the balance and the need of the press to do their jobs,” she said.

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Makuch, who is based in New York, was not at the court for the decision’s release. Tunley had no comment, and it was not immediately clear when, or, even, if the materials would be given to the RCMP.

“This is a dark day for press freedom, which is a basic tenet of democracy,” Vice Media said in a statement. “While we’ve lost this battle, nothing can shake our belief that a free press is instrumental to a truthful understanding of the world in which we live.”

—with files from The Canadian Press