The Trump family has failed to stop the publication of a book by the President’s niece, Mary Trump.s book Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man

A New York Supreme Court judge ruled that the suit brought by Robert, Donald’s younger brother, to stop publication of Mary Trump’s book on the family and how it created “the world’s most dangerous man” would not harm Robert. Blocking the book would instead damage the publisher Simon & Schuster and deprive the public of vital information about their president.

Tensions between China and the US have resulted in escalating media regulation and restrictions on operations, CNN reports. The Eceonomic Times provides context for the rising hostilities, which have been precipitated by coronavirus messaging from the US and sanctions between the two governments.

The Chinese Government last week requested that US media outlets submit information regarding their operations for approval. The Guardian reports that AP, CBS, UPI and NPR have received such requests from the Chinese foreign ministry. The Washington Post has called for a truce on media accesses in the wake of rising tensions.

Most recently Secretary of State Mike Pompeo advocated banning Chinese social media apps, in particular, the popular TikTok app. Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI, made a statement criticising alleged Chinese efforts to precipitate positive coronavirus messaging.

The Free Speech Center is tracking developments involving how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting First Amendment freedoms.

Justin Bieber is suing two women for defamation following receiving accusations of sexual assault from then via Twitter. The BBC reports on the £16.2m lawsuit which describes the allegations as “fabricated lies”.

Bloomberg Law has an interesting piece considering liability for defamation where one employee states falsely another has coronavirus. The Financial Times [£] considers the surge in cases following July 4 celebrations.

JD Supra has reported on the defamation risks of creating inspired by films, using the Wolf of Wall Street as a poignant example.

Lexology has considered the implementation of a federal US data protection regime as being a closer reality than previously thought. The Lawyer Monthly Magazine also considers the establishment of a federal law.

The UK and US’s Data Access Agreement, due to come into use later this year, is to be overseen by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner Sir Brian Leveson.

This month in the Courts

Trump v Vance No. 19-635 (U.S. Jul. 9, 2020) the US Supreme Court held that Article II and the supremacy clause of the Constitution do not categorically preclude, or require a heightened standard for, the issuance of a state criminal subpoena to a sitting president.  There was extensive coverage on the SCOTUSblog.

Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, No.19-631 (US Jul 6 202) the US Supreme court held that the exception for calls to collect government debt from a federal ban on robocalls to cellphones violated the First Amendment. There was coverage on the SCOTUS blog.

Leopold v US No.18-5276, an investigative court reporter applied to the district court to unseal various court orders relating to electronic surveillance. The Court had concluded it would be too administratively burdensome to unseal the bulk of the requested documents. The case was remanded with it being held that “Administrative burden is relevant to how and when a judicial record may be unsealed, but not to whether it may be released at all.”

The New York Times v CIA No.18-2112-cv, concerning whether national security cases which the president had tweeted about, brings the information at issue for FOIA requests. In doing so rebutting the presumption that the CIA need not confirm or deny the existence of records about its covert activities. Found that no. This presumption cannot be rebutted by such tweets on the part of the President.

Shane Thomas Young v US No.18-6221, the Tenth Circuit held that lying by law enforcement during an interrogation was acceptable but that lying about having a special relationship with the judge was not.

This Round up was complied by Suneet Sharma a junior legal professional with a particular interest and experience in media, information and privacy law.