Actor Hugh Grant has settled his phone hacking claim with the Sun Newspaper after alleging that he was targeted by journalists and private investigators. The misuse of private information and invasion of privacy claim was due to be heard in January 2025, however a substantial Part 36 offer was made.

As a result, Grant was at risk of having to pay £10 million in legal costs if the matter proceeded to trial and reluctantly accepted the offer. Under the settlement, Grant was paid “substantial damages,” which he tweeted would be donated to press reform groups, such as Hacked Off.  The Guardian, Independent, BBC, Sky News, Press Gazette, Forbes, The Law Society Gazette, Telegraph, The Sunday Times, Reuters, ITVX, and Variety reported on the outcome.

The High Court has rejected the application of News Group Newspapers to delay the trial in the unlawful information gathering claim brought by Prince Harry. The newspaper group sought deferral to allow the court to consider whether the claims of Prince Harry and 41 others were brought outside the limitation period. Fancourt J said that granting the application would be costly and lead to “unsatisfactory” delays. The BBC, Guardian, The Telegraph, Reuters, Independent, Sky News, The Mirror, and ABC covered the story.

The United States has provided assurances that Julian Assange would not receive the death penalty in the event that he is extradited. In a hearing last month, the High Court granted Assange permission to appeal if the US government were unable to provide assurances that he would be permitted to rely on the first amendment, would not be prejudiced at trial and that the death penalty would not be imposed. Stella Assange, the wife of the WikiLeaks founder, responded, “The United States has issued a non-assurance in relation to the first amendment, and a standard assurance in relation to the death penalty.” A further High Court hearing is scheduled on 20 May 2024 to determine the value of the assurances. The Guardian, Reuters, the Independent, Sky News, The New York Times and ABC News reported.

Internet and Social Media

A sex offender found guilty of creating over 1,000 indecent images of children was ordered not to use, visit or access AI generation tools without prior police permission for five years. A CPS spokesperson told the Guardian, “Where we perceive there is an ongoing risk to children’s safety, we will ask the court to impose conditions, which may involve prohibiting use of certain technology.” NDTV and Voice of Europe also covered the landmark sentence.

Data privacy and data protection

The ICO have reprimanded Clyde Valley Housing Association after a resident realised that the company’s customer portal allowed access to other residents’ personal information. Despite reporting the breach, the concerns were not escalated and the personal information – which included anti-social behaviour cases, names, addresses and dates of birth – remained available for 5 days. The portal was suspended and the ICO found that the housing association had not conducted sufficient pre-launch testing. Read the press release here.

The LSE Media Law Blog have an article examining the impact of more stringent data protection laws in Europe and the US on researchers.

Surveillance

Big Brother Watch have published a legal opinion authored by Dan Squires KC and Aidan Wills on the proposed powers under the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill which would allow financial institutions to monitor the bank accounts of welfare recipients to detect fraud, without any suspicion of wrongdoing. The opinion, which is available in full here, concludes that this type of bulk surveillance is likely to breach privacy rights because of the absence of safeguards and would disproportionately impact certain groups. The DPDI Bill is currently being debated in the House of Lords. Read Matrix’s press release here.

The Policing Board received a report last week which revealed up to 18 incidents of intrusive surveillance against media figures and legal professionals by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Amnesty International has called on the Policing Board to hold an inquiry. The Irish News and Computer Weekly covered the story.

The House of Lords has made the UN’s recent toolkit on the use of surveillance technology by law enforcement officials at protests available in its library.

Newspaper Journalism and regulation

The BBC World Service has filed an updated complaint to its urgent appeal to the UN in relation to the use of counterterrorism and national security laws against its journalists in Iran. Recent documents published by a hacking group have exposed the conviction in absentia of several BBC News Persian journalists in Tehran in early 2022 for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” The UN have been ask to issue a communication to Iran and a public joint statement condemning the ongoing targeting and harassment of BBC journalists. Read Doughty Street’s Press Release here. The National Union of Journalists backed the appeal and the Arab News, Times of Israel, Press Gazette and Association for International Broadcasting covered the complaint.

IPSO

There are no new IPSO rulings this week.

Statements in open court and apologies

We are not aware of any statements in open court or apologies from the last week.

New Issued cases

There were no new claims filed on the media and communications list last week.

Last week in the courts

On 15 April 2024, there was an injunction application in Stone & Ceramic Limited (CN. 030725144) and others v Parker KB-2024-000833.

On 17 April 2024, there was a costs hearing in Payone v Logo KB-2023-002134.

On 18 April 2024 there was an application for permission in relation to a committal in HM Solicitor General v Warner KB-2023-004710.

On 19 April 2024, Farbey J handed down judgement in the case of Parsons v Atkinson [2024] EWHC 888 (KB) in favour of the defendant. The claimant alleged that the defendant had defamed him by reading aloud a “poison pen” letter to a number of his firefighter colleagues at a fire station in Cumbria. The parties agreed that the letter related to the claimant and was defamatory in meaning, however the defendant denied reading the letter aloud, arguing that there was no publication, or in the alternative, that there was no serious harm to the claimant. The court held that the letter had not been published, meaning that the claimant’s claim for libel and misuse of private information failed.

Media law in other jurisdictions

Australia

On 15 April 2024, the Federal Court of Australia handed down the long-anticipated judgement in the defamation case of Bruce Lehrmann v Network Ten [2024] FCA 369 in favour of the defendants. The Applicant, former political Staffer, Bruce Lehrmann, was suing the news outlet, Network Ten, and journalist, Lisa Wilkinson, for their reporting of the rape allegations made against him by his colleague, Brittany Higgins, in February 2021. In his criminal trial, which was aborted and not re-tried due to concerns about the Lehrmann’s mental health, the former Staffer had pleaded not guilty.

Justice Lee stated that there were issues with the reliability of both Lehrmann and Higgins, but found that, on the balance of probabilities, Ms Higgins’s allegations that Mr Lehrmann raped her were true. The court also held that Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson had legally justified their imputation of rape [1096], though their conduct, such as their approach to seeking comment from Lehrmann and intertwining their allegations of rape with allegations of a cover-up were still criticised. The BBC, Guardian, CNN, Independent, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC and The Telegraph covered the judgement.

Georgia

Protests have broken out in Georgina in response to what has been dubbed the “Russian bill” due to its similarly to laws passed by President Putin in Russia. The bill would require NGOs and media outlets that receive over 20% of their funding from overseas to register as an “organisation serving the interests of a foreign power.” The Prime Minister stated that the legislation was important to promote the financial transparency of grant recipients, but critics have called the bill an attempt to crush dissent and impede attempts to join the EU. The controversial bill has passed its first reading. The BBC, EuroNews, AP News, CNN, France 24, Sky News, Reuters, NBC, Washington Post, Al Jazeera and the Guardian covered the development.

Italy

The European Green Party has called on the European Commission to investigate the Italian government’s alleged attempts to reduce the public broadcaster, Rai, to an amplifier for the incumbent far-right parties before the European elections. The Guardian and EurNews reported on the development. The communications regulator, Agcom, rejected a proposal which would have allowed ministers unrestricted airtime during the campaign period to discuss their “institutional and government activity” but will still be permitted to do so during restricted time slots.

United States

Over 100 students at Columbia University were arrested for a peaceful protest against the war in Gaza, after they were warned that the demonstration violated university rules. The pro-Palestine protestors had set up and occupied an encampment on the lawns, from which they demanded a ceasefire and divestment from Israel. The University’s President Minouche Shafik authorised the New York Police Department to dismantle the encampment and students were arrested for trespass. The day before the arrests, Shafik had testified before Congress over concerns about anti-Semitism on campus. The BBC, Guardian, the New York Times, Al Jazeera, Reuters, the Daily Mail Online, NBC News, The Times and the Columbia Daily Spectator covered the story.

The US Senate has voted in favour of reauthorising the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). As it currently stands, s702 of the Act permits the government to compel communications companies, including Google and the phone company Verizon, to hand over their customers’ information without the need for a warrant. The Act has also been amended such that “any other service provider” with access to communications equipment, including a Wi-Fi router, server or phone, could also be forced to hand over data. Civil Rights Groups, including the ACLU and Brennan Centre for Justice have raised concerns about the privacy violations and abuse of the scant rules to perform “baseless backdoor searches.” Al Jazeera, the Guardian, NBC News, Forbes, NPR, and the Washington Post covered the development.

DLA Piper have published an article examining the implications of the proposed legislation introduced in the American Privacy Rights Bill.

Research and Resources

Next week in the courts

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

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

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

Reserved judgements

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 Jasleen Chaggar who is a litigation and media paralegal at Atkins Dellow