Michaelmas term began on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 and will continue until Friday 19 December 2025.

The UK government has announced plans to give police greater powers to restrict repeated protests, allowing them to impose conditions on time, location, and participant numbers based on the “cumulative impact” of prior demonstrations. The move, prompted by mass demonstrations over Palestine Action and concerns for community safety following a terror attack on a Manchester synagogue, has drawn criticism from civil liberties groups and some Labour MPs, who warn it could be misused to curb legitimate protests. The Guardian, LBC, The i Paper, Jewish News, Middle East Eye and The Daily Mail covered the development.

A new secret UK order reportedly compels Apple to weaken iCloud’s end-to-end encryption for UK users. Although it appears more limited than the previous order which applied worldwide, experts warn that any compromise in encryption, even if UK-specific, creates worldwide vulnerabilities, exposing data to security threats.  Privacy International and Liberty have an ongoing legal challenge relating to the order, with a hearing set for January 2026. The Financial Times, BBC, Guardian, Tech Crunch and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have more information.

Actress and activist, Jane Fonda, has revived the Free Speech Initiative established by her father during the 1940s McCarthy era of government repression in Hollywood. The relaunch follows federal efforts to silence critics across media, academia, and the arts, such as the Trump administration’s pressure to censor late night TV host, Jimmy Kimmel. Backed by more than 550 prominent figures, including Whoopi Goldberg, Viola Davis, Spike Lee, Natalie Portman and Barbra Streisand, the committee vows to defend free expression as a nonpartisan constitutional right, warning against censorship and urging solidarity across political lines. Guardian, NBC, EuroNews, New York Times, NPR, CNN and The Independent covered the story.

The UK government has announced plans to introduce a mandatory digital ID for all adults, dubbed the “Britcard,” as part of measures to tackle illegal immigration and link the ID to the right to work in the UK. The proposal will be subject to consultation and legislation, but has already sparked opposition from across the political spectrum, including the Conservatives, LibDems, Reform, SNP and Plaid Cymru. Civil liberties groups argue that the scheme will alter the relationship between the population and the state and introduce unprecedented risks of mass surveillance, privacy infringements, security breaches and digital exclusion. Over 2.8 million people have signed a parliamentary petition opposing the scheme, yet the government has responded by reaffirming its plans.

On 12 September 2025, Colton J in the Northern Ireland Kings Bench Division handed down judgment on meaning in the libel case of Tweed v Krieg [2025] NIKB 50.  The claimant is the renowned libel lawyer Paul Tweed and the defendant is the author of a book entitled Subversion, the Strategic Weaponisation of Narratives and a blog post.  The Judge held [77] that the words complained of bore the following meaning

“The plaintiff acted unprofessionally in suggesting an aggressive strategy to a UAE secret agent and in fighting against Facebook and Twitter to obtain the removal of content on behalf of his client.”

The Mouse in the Court blog has an article entitled “‘Let me talk about my partners death’ – Court of Protection told” concerning a case in which the partner of a man at the centre of Court of Protection proceedings resisted an application by his family to prevent details of the case being reported.  Poole J has reserved judgment.

Internet and Social Media

Meta has announced plans to move to a ‘consent or pay’ model, meaning that users can either pay £2.99 a month to access its platforms without ads or continue to use them for free but with personalised advertising. The ICO welcomed the move, explaining that targeted ads as part of the standard terms and condition is not in line with UK law, however Open Rights Group argued that “this new scheme is still failing to respect…data rights” as those who want to use Meta for free will continue to see targeted adverts based on their personal data. The BBC and Politico have more information.

The LSE media law blog has an article examining the impact of social media and the online environment on young people.

The Brett Wilson Media Law blog has an article about the rise of online abuse in the context of sport, drawing on Ofcom’s ‘Online Hate and Abuse in Sport’ report. Athletes and officials report being routinely targeted by racist, misogynistic, and violent messages, often posted publicly without fear of consequences. The article raises the limitations of automatic content moderation which cannot keep the pace with constantly changing online language and the fact that social media platforms incentivise hateful content by design.

Newspaper journalism and regulation

Reform UK’s Nottinghamshire County Council has lifted its month-long ban on Nottinghamshire Live journalists after the publication launched a legal challenge, arguing the restrictions breached press freedom and human rights laws. The ban, imposed in August by council leader Mick Barton following a critical article, had barred reporters from press events, press releases, and interviews. Though the council later claimed the situation was a “miscommunication,” Nottinghamshire Live editor Natalie Fahy welcomed the reversal, saying it reaffirms journalists’ right to hold elected officials accountable and sends a strong message against attempts to curb media freedoms. The Guardian, BBC, Nottingham Post, Press Gazette, ITVX and Left Foot Forward reported on the development.

IPSO’s 2024 annual report found that the Express had the most upheld breaches of the Editors’ Code with seven, followed by the Daily Mail/Mail Online with five, while The Times and The Daily Telegraph recorded three each. The Press Gazette has more information.

IPSO

Statements in open court and apologies

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

Recent Hearings in the Courts

On 22 September 2025, Deputy High Court Judge Aidan Eardley KC handed down judgement in the case of Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari v Syed Tauqeer Bukhari [2025] EWHC 2391 (KB). The claimant, a former Pakistani Minister brought a claim for defamation and harassment against his cousin in relation to a series of 249 tweets posted between 2019 and 2020. The court held that the defamatory allegations were mostly very serious, including allegations of theft, fraud, corruption and physical attacks and that tweets constituted a “relentless torrent of abuse.” Although most of the defendant’s conduct occurred outside England and Wales, the court found that harassment could still be established, as the claimant experienced the harassment whilst he was in the jurisdiction [134-138]. The claimant was granted two separate awards in the sum of £40,000 in libel damages and £3,000 for harassment. However, the judge refused the application for a final injunction, finding the defendant’s assurance that he had abandoned his campaign to be genuine. Doughty Street Chambers has a summary of the ruling.

On 23 September 2025, Steyn J considered the issue of costs in the case of Clarke v Guardian News and Media.  She ordered the losing claimant, Noel Clarke, to pay the sum of £3 million on account within 28 days and a detailed assessment of the remainder of the Guardian’s £6 million costs bill.  The Guardian had a report on the hearing.

On 1 and 2 October 2025, Nicklin J heard a Costs and Case Management Conference in the case of Baroness Doreen Lawrence and others v Associated Newspapers.  Judgment was reserved.

Media law in other jurisdictions

Afghanistan

The Taliban imposed a 48-hour nationwide telecommunications blackout in Afghanistan, cutting internet and phone services across the country in a move the authorities claimed was aimed at preventing “vice.” The shutdown followed weeks of regional fibre-optic disconnections and slowing internet speeds, with watchdog group Netblocks confirming national connectivity had dropped to just 14% of normal levels. This was the first full-scale communications shutdown under Taliban rule. The BBC,  France24 and Al Jazeera, Reuters and The Washington Post covered the development.

Brazil

Brazil has enacted the Digital Statute of the Child and Adolescent which is designed to protect young people online. The law imposes strict obligations on digital service providers, requiring privacy-by-design safeguards, robust age verification, parental consent mechanisms, restrictions on harmful content and commercial targeting, and transparency in data use. It prohibits loot boxes in games, sexualized content, and profiling for marketing, while mandating platforms with over one million minor users to report on compliance and moderation. The Inside Privacy blog has more information.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong plans to expand its surveillance network by installing 60,000 AI-powered facial recognition cameras by 2028, significantly increasing from the current 4,000 under its SmartView crime-fighting programme. The technology will also monitor crowds and read license plates, with officials citing national security and crime prevention as key motives. The privacy watchdog would not confirm whether it had been consulted. Hong Kong Free Press, The Japan Times and NDTV have more information.

Norway

Norway’s Data Protection Authority has urged the government to strengthen AI regulations by fully adopting the EU AI Act into national law and introducing a clear legal ban on “remote biometric identification,” including live facial recognition, citing serious privacy and human rights risks. The watchdog stressed that biometric surveillance should be prohibited outright and called for greater oversight of high-risk AI systems used in law enforcement. Biometric Update has more information.

United States

The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs convened a hearing ‘Examining the Weaponization of the Quiet Skies Program’ to examine the TSA’s “Quiet Skies” program. Originally created during the Obama administration to monitor potential terrorist threats at airports, the program was shut down in June over concerns of government overreach. Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.) revealed to Fox News that he was one of three Republican lawmakers surveilled under the program, while the Council on American-Islamic Relations welcomed Senate scrutiny of the program, calling it a discriminatory and unlawful extension of the federal terrorism watchlist system. The Washington Examiner covered the hearing.

The Maryland Online Data Privacy Act came into force on 1 October 2025, introducing limitations on the collection of personal data and banning the sale of the most sensitive personal information. The law applies to businesses handling large volumes of Maryland residents’ data or deriving revenue from data sales, with limited exemptions, and grants consumers rights to access, correct, delete, and opt out of targeted advertising, sales, and automated profiling. The Electronic Privacy Information Centre, Joseph Greenwald & Laake, JD Supra and The BayNet have more information.

Research and Resources

Next week in the courts

We are not aware of any media law cases listed for this week.

Reserved judgements

Baroness Doreen Lawrence and others v Associated Newspapers – 1 and 2 October 2025 (Nicklin J)

Naseer v Raja – 21 to 24 July 2025 (Spearman KC).

Blake v Fox – 28 and 29 July 2025 (Dingemans, Elisabeth Laing and Warby LJJ).

 This Round Up was compiled by Jasleen Chaggar who is the Legal and Policy Officer at Big Brother Watch.