On 21 March 2018 the Supreme Court (Lords Kerr and Reed and Lady Black) granted the defendants permission to appeal in the case of Lachaux v Independent Print. The Supreme Court will now consider the meaning and effect of the “serious harm” requirement in section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013 for the first time. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Month: March 2018 (Page 2 of 4)
The EC high level group on ‘fake news’ has done what it was asked to do: it has set out a problem definition and mapped out some policy principles and broad recommendations. Continue reading
The European Court’s Fourth Section has held, by four votes to three, that a protestor’s conviction, including a suspended three-year prison sentence, for frying eggs over the flame of a war memorial, did not violate the protestor’s freedom of expression. The judgment in Sinkova v. Ukraine prompted a notable dissent, which highlighted “inconsistency” with the Court’s prior case law, and a disregard for the principle that criminal penalties are likely to have a “chilling effect on satirical forms of expression relating to topical issues.” Continue reading
Critics have raised concerns that #MeToo has turned into a “trial by Twitter”, suggesting it has turned the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty on its head. The Australian’s opinion columnist Janet Albrechtsen argued this point on the ABC’s #MeToo Q&A special last month. Continue reading
Professor Robin Barnes (Global Institute of Freedom and Awareness) and Peter Coe (Aston University) have organised a panel session at the Inner Temple, London, on Wednesday 23 May 2018. The session is entitled: ‘Joining The Circle: capturing the zeitgeist of ‘Big Tech’ companies, social media speech and privacy’. Continue reading
Having suffered some terrible product or service, there is something darkly satisfying about publishing a scathing online review. This may not be virtuous or kind, but it can be cathartic. However, if your online review is disparaging of a person’s reputation, that person could sue you for defamation. Continue reading
The biggest media and information law story of the week concerns the activities of Cambridge Analytica. The story appear in The Observer, The New York Times and on Channel 4 News. A whistleblower has revealed that the company harvested 50 million Facebook profiles and was “pivotal” in Donald Trump’s presidential victory. Continue reading
Something incredible is happening in modern politics. The shackles of propriety, diplomacy, and discretion have been released. Politicians are speaking their minds. This has not resulted, as so many commentators tell us it has, in statesmen ‘telling it like it is’. Instead, political debate is awash with vacuous, bewildering, abrasive guff. Continue reading
More than a week after the Guardian joined the Daily Mail and the Murdoch papers in applauding the government’s cancellation of the second part of the Leveson Inquiry, the paper still has not produced any argument to justify its position. Continue reading
Online bullying, hate and incitement are on the rise, and new approaches are needed to tackle them. As the Australian Senate conducts hearings for its Inquiry into cyberbullying, it should consider a two-pronged approach to combating the problem. Continue reading
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