The Media Bill has been passed by the House of Lords as one of the outstanding pieces of legislation rushed through Parliament following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to call a general election on 4 July 2024. The bill includes the repeal of Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which has yet to be enacted.

Section 40 would have provided an inexpensive arbitration system as an alternative to litigation for members of a Royal Charter-backed press regulator to resolve legal claims. The Media Law Podcast has more information.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has won a bid to bring an appeal against his extradition to the United States. Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Assange’s legal arguments but said that unless “satisfactory” assurances were given by the US, he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds. Those assurances were that Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment protecting freedom of speech in the US, that he is not “prejudiced at trial” due to his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed. On 20 May 2024, the court granted permission to appeal over the freedom of speech and nationality points. The Press Gazette has more information here.

On 21 May 2024, judgment was handed down in R (On the application of National Council for Civil Liberties) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 1181 (Admin). Lord Justice Green and Mr Justice Kerr found that the Government had acted unlawfully in creating the Public Order Act 2023, which gave the police “almost unlimited” powers to restrict protests. The legislation significantly lowered the threshold of when the police can impose conditions on protests from anything that caused “serious disruption” to anything that was deemed as causing “more than minor” disruption. The Court found that the then Home Secretary Suella Braverman passed the anti-protest measures in June 2023 despite having not been given the power by Parliament to do so [100]. Further, the consultation ran by the Government prior to proposing this legislation was “one-sided and not fairly carried out”, and therefore also unlawful [184]. Read Liberty’s response to the judgment here. Matrix Chambers has a summary of the judgment here. The Guardian’s report can be read here.

Internet and Social Media

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has concluded its investigation into Snap, Inc’s launch of the ‘My AI’ chatbot. The investigation into ‘My AI’ resulted from concerns that Snap had not met its legal obligation to adequately assess the data protection risks posed by the new chatbot. The investigation resulted in Snap taking significant steps to carry out a more thorough review of the risks posed by ‘My AI’ and demonstrate that it had implemented appropriate mitigations.

The ICO is fining the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) £750,000 for failing to protect the personal information of its entire workforce. The proposed fine relates to an incident where personal information – including surname, initials, rank and role of all 9,483 serving PSNI officers and staff – was included in a “hidden” tab of a spreadsheet published online in response to a freedom of information request.

Clean Up The Internet has submitted further evidence to Ofcom setting out its recommendations for the Guidance for Category One services on how to comply with the user identity verification duty. Read more here.

The Cyberleagle blog has an article revisiting internet jurisdiction, which was prompted by the Australian eSafety Commissioner’s legal proceedings against X Corp (Twitter) requiring it to remove or hide from all users worldwide a video of the stabbing of an Australian Bishop. The case highlighted the underlying policy issue caused by the internet undermining, or being perceived to undermine, local laws.

Data Privacy and Data Protection

The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, which was approaching report stage in the House of Lords, was not included in the “wash up” process, whereby some priority legislation is fast-tracked before the dissolution of parliament ahead of an election. The Mishcon de Reya blog discusses the future of the Bill here. The HawkTalk blog’s gives its reasons why the DPDI Bill should be killed off here.

Surveillance

Privacy International has published an article on the introduction of surveillance and mass surveillance measures at sports events. The article explains how this trend impedes the enjoyment of the right to privacy and right to participate in sporting life.

The boss of encrypted messaging app Signal Meredith Whittaker has warned that the AI tools that crunch numbers, generate text and videos and find patterns in data rely on mass surveillance and exercise concerning control over our lives.

Newspaper Regulation and Journalism

Sir Brian Leveson has spoken out publicly about his 2012 Report’s recommendations for the first time. In a letter addressed to senior Parliamentarian Baroness Hollins, he reminds the Government and the press that one of his central recommendations – to protect both publishers and ordinary members of the public from extortionate court costs – was inspired by evidence to his inquiry from a newspaper. That proposal, adopted into law as section 40 CCA 2013, discussed above, has been systematically misrepresented by powerfully press groups, who have successfully lobbied the government to remove it. Hacked Off has more information here.

GB News says it has “begun the formal legal process of challenging” the recent Ofcom rulings finding it has repeatedly breached the Broadcasting Code. The broadcaster declined to go into further detail about what that legal challenge involves. The Press Gazette has more information here.

Events 

The ICO has opened registration for its annual Data Protection Practitioners’ Conference, which is due to be held online on Tuesday 8 October 2024. The event is free and will cover data protection and freedom of information legislation. Sign up here and access the latest agenda and speaker announcements here.

IPSO

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 was one miscellaneous claim filed on the media and communications list last week.

Last Week in the Courts

On Monday 20 May 2024, there was a variation application in Rashid Naseer v Adil Farooq Raja QB-2022-002648.

On the same day, judgment was handed down in Chancery Division by Mr Justice Mellor in conclusion of Crypto Open Patent Alliance v Craig Steven Wright [2024] EWHC 1198 (Ch). The initial claim was brought by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a nonprofit consortium of crypto companies, that asked the court to declare that Wright is not the creator of Bitcoin, to prevent him from carrying forward multiple claims against Bitcoin developers and other parties founded on the claim. Mellor J found that “it is clear that Dr Wright engaged in the deliberate production of false documents to support false claims and use the Courts as a vehicle for fraud [5].” Dr Wright had previously brought a libel trial in relation to his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, which went to the Court of Appeal. The New York Times, Wired and CryptoSlate have more information.

On Tuesday 21 May 2024, there was a strike out application in Signature Medical Ltd v Mohammed Ali Samara and Ors KB-2023-003096, KB-2023-001398, KB-2023-002548, KB-2023-003054.

On the same day, Mr Justice Fancourt ruled the allegations against the “trophy targets” of Rupert Murdoch and other senior executives made by various claimants including Prince Harry could not be taken to trial as they added “nothing material” to the case and some amounted to a “new case”. Lawyers for the Claimants had asked for permission to update parts of their case against News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun and the News of the World. It was claimed that Murdoch knew of unlawful activity at his newspapers as early as 2004 but “turned a blind eye” to the allegations while overseeing a “culture of impunity”. The Press Gazette has more information here.

On Thursday 23 May 2024 there was a pre-trial review in Bates v Rubython and Another KB-2023-002975.

On the same day there was a hearing Titan v Okunola KB-2024-000960.

On 23 – 24 May 2024 there was a Case Management Conference in Lawrence & ors v Associated Newspapers Ltd KB-2022-003316.

On 24 May 2024 judgment on meaning was handed down by HHJ Lewis in Unity Plus Healthcare Ltd v Clay & Ors (Re Preliminary Issues) [2024] EWHC 1278 (KB). The claim relates to allegations of fraud and money laundering in the nursing and care home sector. The court held that the natural and ordinary meaning of the words complained of was: “There were strong grounds to suspect that the claimant a) was run by a disqualified director guilty of VAT evasion and its directors were a front for him; b) was involved in furlough fraud, money laundering and misuse of “Bounce Back” and “Funding Circle” loans; and c) took advantage of staff by forcing them into arrangements involving the use and establishment of limited companies without their consent, knowledge or understanding.” The words complained of comprised statements of fact, save for the matter underlined which is an expression of opinion. The natural and ordinary meaning is defamatory of the claimant at common law [40-42].

On the same day, Steyn J handed down judgment on meaning in Vine v Barton (Re Preliminary Issues) [2024] EWHC 1268 (KB). The central allegation is that the Defendant falsely accused the Claimant of having a sexual interest in children through several publications on X (formally Twitter). In these proceedings, the Defendant has disavowed any such allegation and denies that is the meaning of any of his posts. Of the 14 publications complained of, 11 were found to carry a meaning that the Claimant had a sexual interest in children and/or was a danger to children because of his sexual interest in them [see 202]. They were statements of fact and defamatory at common law. The Guardian has more information here. The Press Gazette has more information here.

Media Law in Other Jurisdictions

Australia

Queensland shadow health minister Ros Bates has raised the prospect of defamation action by sending a concerns notice to the Queensland health minister over a social media post she claimed fuelled violent threats against her. Bates shouted “cross your legs” while the health minister Shannon Fentiman was speaking about maternity services in Queensland parliament. A clip of the exchange went viral after Fentiman shared it. Bates claimed the comment was taken out of context. She said the barb was in response to women being forced to travel long distances to access maternity services. The Guardian has more information here.

Europe

On 23 May 2024, the European Data Protection Board adopted an Opinion on the use of facial recognition technologies by airport operators and airline companies to streamline the passenger flow at airports. The Opinion, which was requested by the French Supervisory Authority, is limited in scope to the use of facial recognition for the specific purpose of streamlining the passenger flow at airports. The Privacy and Information Security Law Blog has more information here.

Thailand

Thai activist Chonthicha Lookkate Jangrew has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for royal defamation related to her involvement in a 2021 demonstration. Time has more information here.

United States

After Donald Trump repeated his denial of the rape and defamation claims successfully brought against him by E Jean Carroll last week, a lawyer for the writer said “all options are on the table” in relation to a third defamation claim. Trump posted on Truth Social about his various civil and criminal court entanglements, including litigation levelled against him by Carroll. The Guardian and Independent have more information.

A jury has awarded more than $1.1m to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022. The Guardian and Independent have more information.

Research and Resources

Next Week in the Courts

This week is the legal vacation and there are no cases listed for hearing.

Reserved Judgments

Harrison v Cameron, heard 26 March 2024 (Steyn J)

BW Legal Services Limited v Trustpilot,  heard 7 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 Colette Allen who is the host of Newscast on Dr Thomas Bennett and Professor Paul Wragg’s The Media Law Podcast (@MediaLawPodcast).