On 25 April 2024, Collins Rice J delivered a decision on damages for the successful claimants in Blake & Anor v Fox [2024] EWHC 956 (KB). Mr Blake and Mr Seymour were awarded £90,000 each to redress the damage to their reputation caused by Mr Fox’s baseless allegation that they were paedophiles. Inforrm has more information here.

The case was widely covered in the media including by the BBC, the Guardian and the Independent.

The Daily Mail had a piece on the recent judgment in Parsons v Atkinson [2024] EWHC 888 (KB) under the headline “Millionaire author loses poison pen letter libel case against his primary school friend in bitter legal battle that has divided sleepy Lake District town”.

Internet and Social Media

Last week US lawmakers passed a bill that forces TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the hugely popular social media app, or be banned in America; discussed further below. EU policymakers will not immediately consider addressing the alleged TikTok issues over national security and sensitive data protection concerns that have prompted the change in US law. Politico has more information here. The BBC explains why the US is going after the popular social media app.

Data Privacy and Data Protection

Gay dating app Grindr is facing a mass data protection claim from hundreds of users who allege their private information, including HIV status, was shared with third parties without their consent. Austen Hays filed the claim in London’s High Court and said thousands of Grindr users in the United Kingdom may have been affected. Reuters has more information here.

In a letter to the House of Lords, the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs said changes to the UK’s data flow policies under proposed data protection reform could impact the EU-UK adequacy agreement. The committee expressed concerns about how a bill implementing new rules could bypass EU rules on international transfer and weaken UK enforcement.

The HawkTalk blog has an article analysing Clause 68A of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. The proposed law enforcement Codes of Conduct do not have to involve any data protection expertise, nor the ICO, nor does the text require Parliamentary approval nor does a Code have to consider its impact on data subjects.

The Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber dismissed the Information Commissioner’s Office appeal of a lower court’s decision to overturn an order requiring Experian to change how it handles customer data. The court found some flaws in the First-Tier Tribunal’s reasoning but no legal issues. Read the ICO statement here. The Panopticon blog comments here.

Surveillance

Two secondary schools in the Isle of Man have been told to turn off surveillance cameras that had been operating inside toilets for the last 18 months. Ballakermeen and Castle Rushen High Schools were sent enforcement notices from the Isle of Man Information Commissioner stating they had failed to comply with data protection legislation prior to putting the CCTV in place. The BBC has more information here.

Newspapers Journalism and Regulation

The Media Reform Coalition has an article criticising the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s review of the BBC’s funding model. Despite the major implications for the future of the BBC and the needs of the audiences it serves, this DCMS review is taking place behind closed doors, without any public input or basic parliamentary scrutiny. Read the article here.

IPSO

Statements in Open Court and Apologies

On Thursday 25 April, there was a statement in open court in the case of Pretty v Sabin and others QB-2022-001263.

New Issued Cases

There were two defamation (libel and slander) claims, one Misuse of Private Information claim and one injunction application filed on the Media and Communications list last week.

Last Week in the Courts

As mentioned above, on 25 April 2024, there was a statement in open court in the case of Pretty v Sabin and others QB-2022-001263.

On Friday 26 April 2024, there was an adjourned contempt application in the case of Aslani -v- Sobierajska QB-2020-004166.

On the same day, there was a case management conference in the case of Farley and others v Paymaster (1836) Ltd t/a Equiniti QB-2021-001497.

Media Law in Other Jurisdictions

Australia

A group of Australian federal police officers have launched a defamation case against the ACT government in relation to Shane Drumgold’s complaint about their handling of the Bruce Lehrmann prosecution. In December 2022 Guardian Australia revealed that Drumgold, then the director of public prosecutions, had complained that officers engaged in “a very clear campaign to pressure” him not to prosecute the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins, saying there was “inappropriate interference” and he felt investigators “clearly aligned with the successful defence of this matter” during the trial. The Guardian has more information here.

Benjamin Cohen, who was wrongly named on air by Seven News as the Bondi Junction killer, has reached a confidential settlement with the network. The Guardian has more information here.

Canada

The Michael Geist Blog discusses how the Canadian Government’s Artificial Intelligence plan avoids the hard governance questions. More information here.

Europe

OpenAI is facing another privacy complaint in the European Union. The privacy rights non-profit noyb has filed a claim on behalf of an individual complainant that targets the inability of its AI chatbot ChatGPT to correct misinformation it generates about individuals. TechCrunch has more information here.

Northern Ireland

A libel claim by Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly against journalist Ruth Dudley Edwards has settled.  This was the second claim brought by Mr Kelly over this allegation, the first being dismissed as a SLAPP in January 2024.  We had an Inforrm post on that decision.

United States

As mentioned above, the US Senate has voted in favour of legislation that could ban TikTok in the country if its Chinese owners refuse to sell. The bill passed by a wide margin in the Senate on 23 April 2024 after being voted through in the House of Representatives. Sky News, Evan Law, USA Today, BBC, the Washington Post and Guardian are some of the many outlets to cover the new legislation and its implications.

On 25 April 2024, a federal judge upheld the verdict and award of more than $83m to the writer E Jean Carroll in a defamation case against Donald Trump after he called her a liar for accusing him of sexually assaulting her. The Guardian has more information here.

Research and Resources

Next Week in the Courts 

On Thursday 2 May 2024 there will be a statement in open court in Percival v Belfield QB-2022-000902.

Reserved Judgments

Harrison v Cameron, heard 26 March 2024 (Steyn J)

BW Legal Services Limited v Trustpilot,  heard 7 March 2024 (HHJ Lewis)

Unity Plus Healthcare Limited v Clay and others,  heard 1 March 2024 (HHJ Lewis)

Vince v Associated Newspapers, heard 19 February 2024 (HHJ Lewis)

Pacini v Dow Jones, heard 13 December 2023 (HHJ Parkes KC)

Mueen-Uddin v Secretary of State for the Home Department, heard 1 and 2 November 2023 (UK Supreme Court)

George v Cannell and another, heard 17-18 October 2023 (UK Supreme Court)

Harcombe v Associated Newspapers, heard 3 to 7 and 10 to 11 July 2023 (Nicklin J)

MBR Acres v FREE THE MBR BEAGLES, heard 24-28 April 2023, 2-5, 9, 11-12, 15, 17-18, 22-23 May 2023 (Nicklin J)

This Round Up was compiled by Colette Allen who is the host of Newscast on Dr Thomas Bennett and Professor Paul Wragg’s The Media Law Podcast (@MediaLawPodcast).