The woman who identified herself as the inspiration behind the character Martha Scott in the Netflix hit drama series Baby Reindeer has filed a $170m lawsuit against the streaming platform. In a lawsuit filed on 6 June 2024 in the US district court for the central district of California, Fiona Harvey accused Netflix of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, gross negligence and violations of her right of publicity. The Guardian, Forbes, CNN, Variety, Reuters and BBC have more information.

This week sees the launch of the party manifestos in the UK general election and it will be interesting to see what media and legal policies are promised by the parties.

Labour has become the first party to articulate a media-specific policy pledge in the 2024 general election, saying it will ban strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) by Russian oligarchs.  The policy was announced by Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy in an interview with the i newspaper – he said that he would be happy to work with the Law Society and the Law Commission to get the wording right.  The Press Gazette has a piece  here.

The Labour Party is discontinuing its legal claims against Karie Murphy, Seumas Milne, Georgie Robertson, Harry Hayball and Laura Murray on a ‘no order as to costs’ basis. The Guardian has more information here.

Internet and Social Media

Google has accidentally collected children’s voice data, leaked the trips and home addresses of car pool users, and made YouTube recommendations based on users’ deleted watch history, among thousands of other employee-reported privacy incidents, according to a copy of an internal Google database which tracks six years worth of potential privacy and security issue. 404 Media has more information.

Data Privacy and Data Protection

DLA Piper has an article on the state of play of the data-sharing frameworks in the EU and UK. The article explores the concepts of data spaces and data schemes, and the policy objectives behind them; gives an overview of the emerging rules that will be part of the foundation of these data-sharing frameworks in the EU and the UK; examines what can be expected from these initiatives and what hurdles still need to be overcome in order to secure successful implementation.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has analysed a sample of over 150,000 Freedom of Information requests and Environmental Information Regulations requests from 2022 to identify common themes in the information that has been asked for. More information here.

Surveillance

The chief constable of Northern Ireland has commissioned an “independent review” of police surveillance of journalists, lawyers and civil society groups following allegations the police unlawfully obtained phone data of “trouble-making” journalists. ComputerWeekly has more information here.

Newspapers Journalism and Regulation

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has opened a consultation into what proportion of a British newspaper foreign, state-linked entities and individuals should be allowed to own. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC) which received royal assent last month “foreign powers” may own no shares whatsoever in a UK newspaper. An amendment which would have allowed passive investment of up to 5% from sovereign wealth funds and state pension funds was dropped in the pre-election legislative ‘wash up’. The Press Gazette has more information here.

A major claim against Google over its “anti-competitive” adtech that could earn UK publishers billions has been permitted to move forward to a trial. The claim alleges that Google abused its dominant position in the adtech market, causing huge losses to UK publishers worth as much as £13.6bn. On 5 June 2024, the Competition Appeal Tribunal certified the claim and allowed it to go to trial, dismissing Google’s arguments against it. The Press Gazette has more information 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 Misuse of Private Information case filed on the media and communications list last week.

Last Week in the Courts

On Wednesday 5 June 2024, there was a renewed PTA in the case of Savva v Riedweg and another KA-2024-000049.

On Thursday 6 June 2024, there was a trial of preliminary issues in the case of Versi v Husain (AKA Ed Husain) QB-2021-004234 before Susie Alegre (sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court).  Judgment was reserved.  On the same date there was a return date hearing in the case of JJH v DTH.

On 7 June 2024, Steyn J handed down judgment in Harrison v Cameron and ACL [2024] EWHC 1377 (KB). On phone calls with one of the defendants, the claimant had repeatedly made threats of violence, without realising that the calls were being recorded. Via subject access requests under Article 15 of the UK GDPR, he sought the identities of individuals to whom the content of the recordings had been disclosed. The defendants refused, relying inter alia on the ‘personal data of others’ exemption (see DB v General Medical Council), in light of the claimant’s conduct. In dismissing the claimant’s claim for the identities of the recipients, Steyn J’s judgment addresses not only that exemption, but a range of important data protection issues including the ‘personal/household’ exemption, the definition of ‘data controller’, the right to request specific identities of recipients and the application of post-Brexit CJEU case law (Austrian Post). Read the Panopticon Blog’s summary here.

On the same day, there was a pre-trial review in the case of Khokan v Hossain KB-2022-004473.

Media Law in Other Jurisdictions

Australia

Greens leader Adam Bandt says his lawyers have written to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus over comments Bandt claims were defamatory to him and the Greens party. The comments were regarding the Greens’ involvement in pro-Palestinian protests and were made in an interview with the ABC. SBS has more information here.

Europe

The case of Danilet v. Romania, which concerned a judge that was disciplined for sharing a pair of incendiary Facebook posts, considers the question of judges’ use of social media and their right to freedom of expression versus the duty of judicial restraint. Strasbourg Observes has more information here.

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has published its 2023 Annual Report, highlighting a record year with DPC fines accounting for 87% of all GDPR fines issued across the EU. DLA Piper has more information here.

United States

In a recent ruling, Judge Kevin Newsom of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals discussed the potential use of AI-powered large language models (LLMs) in legal text interpretation. The Evan Law Blog has more information here.

Netflix and filmmaker Ava DuVernay have settled a defamation lawsuit over 2019 drama series When They See Us. The streamer and director were being sued by a former New York City prosecutor, Linda Fairstein, who alleged defamation for her portrayal in the TV series. The four-part series covered the story of five wrongly convicted black and Latino teenagers – known as the Central Park Five – who were accused of assaulting and raping a woman in Central Park in 1989. The defamation trial was set to start next week, but a deal has now been reached between both parties, the BBC reports.

Research and Resources

Next Week in the Courts 

On Monday 10 June 2024, there will be a hearing in Shah v Imran and others QB-2021-001140.

On Tuesday 11 June 2024, there will be a hearing in Organista v Rodrigues and another QB-2021-003806.

On Wednesday 12 June 2024, the Supreme Court will hand down judgment in George v Cannell and another [2024] UKSC 19. The Supreme Court has been asked to determine what a claimant needs to demonstrate to rely on s3(1) of the Defamation Act 1952 in a claim for malicious falsehood.

On the same day, there will be a hearing in Bridgen MP v Hancock MP KB-2023-002309.

On Thursday 13 June 2024, there will be hearings in Nicholas James Gwilliam v (1) Stephen Thomas Freeman (2) John William Freeman QB-2021-000981 and Tyndal v Obisulu KB-2024-001333

On Friday 14 June 2024, there will be a hearing in McKnight v Chelsea Football Club Limited KA-2023-000099.

Reserved Judgments

Versi v Husain (AKA Ed Husain),  heard 7 June 2024 (Susie Alegre)

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)

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).