This is a round up of the 2017 decisions by the Courts of Northern Ireland in libel, privacy and other media law cases along with case summaries dealing with the issues and decisions in each case. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Month: March 2018 (Page 3 of 4)
The Sunday Times faces mounting scrutiny following evidence from former private investigator, John Ford that he was asked to illegally obtain phone bills, bank details and also searched through subjects rubbish to obtain information. The Sunday Times “strongly rejects” his statements. Continue reading
The European Commission (EC) Recommendation of 1.3.2018 on measures to effectively tackle illegal content online (C(2018) 1177 final) is now freely accessible. As readers know, this is not the first time the EC has attempted to express meaningful thoughts (for lack of a better word, as once again the instrument is not strictly speaking binding on anyone, although the EC will monitor the effects of this Recommendation as per Chapter IV) on the topic. Continue reading
The internet was expected to renew democracy, tackle the hegemony of the monopoly news providers and draw us all into a global community. Over the past six months, that idea has been undermined by a new myth which suggests that democracy is, in fact, being overturned by the spawn of the internet: Russian bots and fake news – and that news organisations are losing their power to keep people informed. Continue reading
You may not have seen this, but the Daily Mail has published an article complaining of Max Mosley’s ‘hidden donations to aid press-hating professor‘, and the professor in question is me. I am not, of course, a press hater, but I do despise the dishonesty and hypocrisy of the Daily Mail, of which this turns out to be a vivid example. Continue reading
In a case about a Ukrainian journalist being arrested during an anti-globalisation protest in Russia, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Butkevich v. Russia (13 February 2018) has clarified that the gathering of information is an essential preparatory step in journalism and an inherent, protected part of press freedom. Continue reading
In a statement in open court [pdf] read before Mr Justice Nicklin on 7 March 2018 a customer who made social media posts claiming that a nutrition product contained a dead mouse has apologised to the manufacturer and supplier and has agreed to pay costs and damages. Continue reading
I have now obtained the figures concerning the numbers of defamation cases issued in Northern Ireland in 2017. These figures are based on a search of the Court’s records for the period 1 January to 31 December 2017. Continue reading
When in 1991 I qualified I into a well-known claimant media practice I was fortunate enough to find on my desk on the first day that I arrived a file containing a libel action being brought against London Weekend Television (by whom my new firm had just been instructed). Continue reading
Last week the culture minister Matt Hancock announced the government’s response to the public consultation on the Leveson Inquiry and its implementation. The government announced that it will repeal Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 and will not continue with the Leveson Inquiry Part 2 that was supposed to consider corrupt relations between police and media and was unable to proceed at the time because of court cases that were ongoing. Continue reading
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