This week The House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has published its final report on “Disinformation and ‘fake news’” [pdf].  We had a news post and some initial thoughts from Zoe McCallum. The report was widely covered in the media, including in the Guardian, the BBC and the Press Gazette.

The CJEU handed down its decision in the Buidvids case (Case C-345/17) this week.  We had posts by David Erdos, here and here.  There was also a post about the decision on the Panopticon Blog.

Transparency Project member Louise Tickle succeeded in an appeal against a reporting restrictions order in a family case.  Submissions were also made by the BBC. The Transparency Project blog has a report and a note of the judgment. The Press Gazette has a post about the case, “Judge to issue new guidelines on challenging reporting restrictions in family courts after journalist’s appeal win”.

The Voyeurism Offences Act 2019 was passed on 12 February 2019 and will come into effect on 12 April 2019. This creates what is generally known as the “upskirting” offence. There is a post about this on the David Banks Media Law blog.

Internet and Social Media

The Center for Internet and Society blog has posts “You’ve been sued in the EU for copying a ‘short extract’”! and New EU Rules on Video-Sharing Platforms: Will they really work?

The Washington Times reports that Twitter is under attack in Russia after the internet watchdog has stated that it has failed to comply with a law report the physical storage of data about Russian users within the country.

Data Protection and Data Privacy

The Panopticon Blog has a post on the interesting data protection case of Cooper v National Crime Agency [2019] EWCA Civ 167

The same blog also has a post about the first significant decision on the Part 3 provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018, R (El Gizouli) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 60 (Admin) which it describes as a “controller friendly” decision.

There is also a Panopticon post on the first Upper Tribunal decision about information notices, UKIP v Information Commissioner [2019] UKUT 662 (AAC)

The Guardian reports that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered state agencies to investigate a report that Facebook may be accessing sensitive personal data.

The French regulator, CNIL, has publshed a set of FAQs setting out its recommendations to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.  There is a post on the Security Law Blog.

The Mishcon de Reya blog has a post, Data Privacy and Data Protection GDPR and direct marketing – consent is not always required

The Himsworth Scott website has a post “Selecting the right reputational strategy during a data breach”.

ICO

Newspapers, Journalism and Regulation 

IMPRESS

The Press Gazette has a post about a ruling “Evolve Politics rapped by Impress over inaccuracy in story alleging misconduct by Tory MP” 

IPSO

The Press Gazette has a post entitled “Mail Online claim that GDPR stopped German Christmas wishlist tradition was inaccurate, IPSO rules”.

IPSO has handed down a number of recent rulings:

Statements in Open Court and Apologies

On 19 February 2019 there was a statement in open court before Warby J in the case of Life 2009 Ltd v Lambeth LBC.  There is a press statement by the claimant here.  There was a report by the Catholic News Agency.

Last Week in the Courts

On 15 February 2019 Nicklin J handed down judgment in the case of Greenstein v Campaign Against Anti-Semitism [2019] EWHC 281 (QB).

On 16 February 2019 Nicklin J heard a case management conference in the case of Soobhan v Badal.

On 18 February 2019 Warby J handed down a judgment in the case of Linklaters LLP v Mellish [2019] EWHC 295 (QB) which made it clear that the action had been compromised on the defendant giving undertakings not to disclose certain categories of information.

On 21 February 2019 Warby J handed down judgment in the case of Otuo v Morley.

On 22 February Master Cook handed down judgment in the case of Haydn Price v Gwendoline Watkins [2019] EWHC 375 (QB) striking out a libel claim, inter alia, on the grounds that the claimant had not proved publication to a third party and any publication proved would be covered by absolute privilege.

Events

Mind the Gap: a blueprint for a new regulatory framework that effectively captures citizen journalists, Information Law and Policy Centre, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR, 28 February 2019, 17.00 to 18.45.

Women and AI: Harms, Impacts and Remedies, Information Law and Policy Centre, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR, 7 March 2019, 17.00 to 19.00.

Media Democracy Festival, Media Reform Coalition, Clore Centre 27 Torrington Square, London WC1E 7JL, 10.00am to 6pm 16 March 2019

3rd Global Conference of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network, Berlin, Germany, 3-5 June 2019.

Media Law in Other Jurisdictions

Australia

On 22 February 2019 Wigney J handed down judgment in the case of Chau v Fairfax Media [2019] FCA 2185 awarding the plaintiff A$200,000 compensatory damages for libel.  The judge held that article conveyed a number of defamatory imputations and the conduct of the defendant, in publishing these allegations in the Sydney Morning Herald, was not reasonable. The defendant has said it will appeal.  There were reports about the decision in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Guardian.

In the case of O’Reilly v Edgar [2019] QSC 24 the plaintiff was awarded A$250,000 in respect of 10 defamatory Facebook posts.  The plaintiff is the CEO of the Australian Carting Association and the posts related to his professional and personal conduct.  There is a report of the decision on Speedcafe.

The Guardian reports that that judge encouraged federal MP Emma Husar and BuzzFeed to consider mediation in their defamation case.  The judge had struck out part of Buzzfeed’s truth defence.

The Advertiser reports that Sarah Hanson-Young’s defamation claim against fellow Senator David Leyonhjelm will go ahead in April 2019, after he lost his bid to challenge a ruling refusing to strike out the case.

Ireland

The Irish Examiner has a report about a Court of Appeal hearing in the case of Nolan v Sunday World, an appeal against a defamation judgment from May 2017.  Judgment was reserved.

.United States

There has been widespread reporting of Thomas J’s concurring opinion [pdf] in the case of McKee v Cosby to the effect that the US Supreme Court should reconsider New York Times v Sullivan.  There a pieces in the Jurist and on Reuters. Blog Law Online has a post “Is New York Times v Sullivan in danger?”.

The Guardian reports that Nicholas Sandmann, a high school student from Covington, Kentucky, has sued the Washington Post for defamation, claiming the newspaper falsely accused him of racist acts and instigating a confrontation with a Native American activist

Research and Resources

Next Week in the Courts 

On 25 February 2019 there will be a statement in open court in the case of Poulter v Times Newspapers before Nicol J.

Judgments

The following reserved judgments after public hearings in media law cases are outstanding:

Kennedy v National Trust for Scotland, heard 25 and 26 July 2018 (Sharp and Asplin LJJ and Sir Rupert Jackson).

Butt v Secretary of State for the Home Department, heard 17 October 2018 (Underhill V-P, Sharp LJ and Sir Rupert Jackson).

Lachaux v Independent Print, heard 13 and 14 November 2018 (UKSC)

ZXC v Bloomberg, heard 27-28 and 30 November 2018 (Nicklin J)

R (on the application of Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal, heard 3 and 4 December 2018 (UKSC)

Ali v Channel 5, heard 4 December 2018 (Irwin, Newey and Baker LJJ).

Stocker v Stocker, heard 24 January 2019 (UKSC)

Various Claimants v MGN, heard 13 February 2019 (McCombe, Ryder and Floyd LJJ) (judgment to be handed down on 7 March 2019).