The Applicants in Bradshaw & Others v United Kingdom 15653/22 have sought a referral to the Grand Chamber. The original application for judicial review under Article 3 Protocol 1 (A3P1) of the European Convention on Human Rights was brought by a group of MPs who argued that the Government was not doing enough to combat Russian interference in UK elections.

They were concerned with credible allegations that Russia had engaged in deliberate cyber-attacks against election infrastructure, “hack and leak” operations, and the use of “cyber troops” and “troll farms” to manipulate public discourse and to sow discord between social groups.

The High Court found that there was no arguable obligation under A3P1 to undertake an investigation or to put in place specific protections and structures to protect elections. In July 2025, Strasbourg upheld the domestic finding that there was no obligation to undertake investigations under A3P1. However, the Court made it clear that it was willing to extend human rights law to create new positive obligations in order to keep pace with technology. The Grand Chamber’s response to this latest application is pending. The Panopticon blog has more information on the application here.

On 21 October 2025, the Technology Secretary announced plans to introduce an AI Growth Lab in the UK, consisting of artificial intelligence (AI) sandboxes where companies and innovators can test new AI products in real-world conditions. The sandboxes will initially target key sectors such as healthcare, professional services, transport, and advanced manufacturing. The goal is to accelerate the responsible development and deployment of AI in the UK, enabling faster and safer innovation without compromising public safety or regulatory standards. The AI Growth Lab marks one of the UK’s first ventures into regulatory sandboxes specifically designed for AI, building on the success of previous testing grounds in other sectors. The Privacy and Information Security Law blog has more information here.

Tax lawyer and founder of Tax Policy Associates Dan Neidle is facing a defamation claim from a barrister he investigated. The claim relates to a February 2025 report on Arka Wealth – a firm that worked with the claimant Setu Kamal, which Neidle alleged promoted a tax avoidance scheme and should be “closed down to protect the public.” Non-billable has more information here.

Internet and Social Media

Clean Up The Internet has an article exploring what the UK Government’s BritCard, the proposed digital identity scheme, could mean for digital identity verification on social media.

The National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Annual Review 2025 was published last week, highlighting the increase in cyber fallout and urging business leaders to treat cyber as a strategic risk and rehearse for the worst. DLA Piper have summarised the key takeaways from the NCSC’s Annual Review 2025 here. Read the NCSC’s Ministerial Letter on Cyber-security here.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has provided a summary of the proposed Consent or Pay model for using online services. Consent or Pay allows the user to choose whether to continue to use the online service by consenting to the use of their personal information for targeted advertising, or pay a fee to access the service and avoid personalised advertising.

Data Privacy and Data Protection

On 20 October 2025, the European Data Protection Board adopted two opinions on the European Commission’s draft decisions to extend the validity of the UK’s adequacy status under the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the Law Enforcement Directive until December 2031. The existing decisions are set to expire on 27 December 2025. The Privacy and Information Security Law blog has more information here.

Surveillance

Keir Starmer has insisted digital ID will not be used to track every aspect of a person’s life, nor will the scheme expand to a social scoring system like the one used in China. The Prime Minister has been taking questions on digital ID in a bid to dispel what Number 10 says is misinformation and conspiracy theories about the policy, which is opposed by millions of people in the UK. Almost three million people have signed a petition against it, which states, “we think this would be a step towards mass surveillance and digital control, and that no one should be forced to register with a state-controlled ID system”. ITV has more information here.

Newspapers Journalism and Regulation

Ofcom has decided not to change its rules setting out when broadcasters can employ politicians as presenters following concerns from broadcasters that its plan would result in a “de facto ban”. It has updated its guidance, however, as well as the Broadcasting Code to make clearer the circumstances in which politicians can present news programmes. Ofcom consulted on changing the Broadcasting Code after two decisions it had made against GB News were quashed by the High Court. It also rescinded three other decisions and discontinued five other investigations. The Press Gazette has more information here.

Hacked Off has an article examining press reporting on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) prompted by research from the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford. The article is an accessible summary of the report and explains the inaccuracies in press coverage.

IPSO

Statements in Open Court and Apologies

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

New Issued Cases

There was one defamation (libel and slander) claim filed on the media and communications list last week.

Last Week in the Courts

On Monday 20 October 2025 there was an application in the case of Hassan v youtube KB-2025-003203 before Johnson J.

On Tuesday 21 October 2025 there was a hearing of applications in the case of (1) Infinox Capital Limited (2) Infinox Global Limited (3) Mena Infinox DMCC v Person(s) Unknown KB-2025-001984 before Tipples J.

On Wednesday 22 October 2025 Steyn J handed down judgment following the PTR in the case of Optosafe Ltd v Robertson [2025] EWHC 2733 (KB).

On the same day there was a PTR in the case of Ali v Hussain KB-2024-000959 before Lavender J.

Media Law in Other Jurisdictions

Australia

The Australian Government has rejected a proposed exemption from copyright laws that would allow “text and data mining” of creative works for AI training without payment or permission to the rights-holders. The government is maintaining its position that Big Tech should pay for the content they use to train their models. The Australian and News.com.au have more information.

Ireland

A group of privacy organisations, including the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, has written to the Government expressing concerns over the recent appointment of a third Commissioner of the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC). Last month it was announced that Niamh Sweeney had been appointed to the role. Ms Sweeney has previously held senior positions with technology companies including WhatsApp and Facebook, both run by Meta. In their letter to the Government, the organisations said they were writing to publicly express their “outrage and misgivings” over the appointment, which they said “reflects a concerning level of disregard for EU law.” RTÉ has more information here.

Norway

On 21 October 2025, Borgarting Court of Appeal handed down its judgment against Grindr. The dating app’s appeal over the District Court’s verdict proved unsuccessful and the fine of NOK 65 million (USD $6.4 million) was maintained. The Data Protection Authority concluded that Grindr disclosed personal data about users to third parties for behavioural advertising without a valid consent. Moreover, the fact that someone is a Grindr user was found to constitute data about their sexual orientation or sex life. The Datatilsynet has more information here.

Research and Resources

Next Week in the Courts 

On Monday 27 October 2025, there will be a statement in open court in Richard Taylor v Pathe Productions Ltd KB-2023-003648 before Collins Rice J.

The hearing of Garrett v Schestowitz & Schestowitz KB-2024-001270 will begin on Thursday 30 October 2025 before Collins Rice J and is scheduled for five days.

Reserved Judgments

 We are not aware of any reserved media law judgments

This Round Up was prepared by Colette Allen, the host of Newscast on Dr Thomas Bennett and Professor Paul Wragg’s The Media Law Podcast (@MediaLawPodcast).