The highly anticipated trial of Lawrence and ors v Associated News Ltd (ANL) KB-2022-003316 will begin on Monday 19 January 2026. The claimants are Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Elizabeth Hurley, Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Sir Simon Hughes, Prince Harry and Sadie Frost Law. The trial is listed for 10 weeks.

The claim is for misuse of private information over the period 1993 to 2011.  The claimants allege that ANL carried out or commissioned unlawful activities such as hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars, “blagging” private records and accessing private phone conversations.  In November 2023, Nicklin J dismissed an application by ANL for summary judgment on limitation grounds ([2023] EWHC 2789 (KB)).  There have been a number of subsequent strong contested hearings resulting in a further 5 public judgments.

There was a pre-trial review on Thursday 15 January, where Nicklin J made an order concerning applications to watch this hearing remotely on 9 January 2026.   Reuters has an “Explainer“.  The Observer has a feature, The prince and the paper: Harry takes on the Mail in high court battle royal.  The Press Gazette, Guardian, BBC and Sky News are some of the many news outlets which also cover the forthcoming trial.

Elon Musk’s AI tool Grok will no longer be able to edit photos of real people to show them in revealing clothing in jurisdictions where it is illegal after widespread concern over sexualised AI deepfakes. The UK Government is claiming the victory after it called on X to control Grok. Ofcom has welcomed the development but added its investigation into whether the platform had broken UK laws “remains ongoing”. The BBC, Sky News, and Al Jazeera have more information. The LSE Media Blog has a post analysing how the Online Safety Act applies to Grok here.

Actor Noel Clarke has been declared bankrupt just months after losing a legal battle over allegations of sexual misconduct. The former Dr Who star was ordered to pay at least £3 million of the Guardian publisher’s legal costs after pursuing a case against the newspaper’s reporting of allegations of sexual misconduct. A High Court judge said abuse claims by 20 women were “substantially true,” saying that Clarke’s case was “far-fetched”. The Standard and Metro have more information.

Internet and Social Media

Google’s senior manager for government affairs and public policy Roxanne Carter has admitted to the the House of Lord’s Communications and Digital Committee that the tech giant does not believe it should have to pay to use unpaywalled content for AI training. Carter said Google wants to create “wholly new content” and not replicate publishers’ work in products like AI Overviews and AI Mode. She also insisted that publishers can opt out of AI training without being penalised in search, but did not comment when asked about the ability to opt out of content being scraped for AI Overviews and being affected in the same way. The Press Gazette has more information here.

Data Privacy and Data Protection

The ICO has shared its early thoughts on the data protection implications of agentic AI in its ICO tech futures: Agentic AI report. The report considers the novel data protection risks presented by agentic AI. It also considers how adoption could impact the risks and the effect that will have on the ICO’s work and priorities. It signals potential challenges and compliance obligations under the UK GDPR that continue to apply, but does not look to set out detailed or prescriptive thoughts on mitigations at this stage. The Norton Rose Fulbright blog has more information here.

Surveillance

The UK Government has revised plans for the proposed digital ID scheme, leaving open the possibility that people will be able to use other forms of identification to prove their right to work. The so called BritCard was announced to some controversy in September 2025 but will no longer be mandatory for working-age people, given that the only planned obligatory element was to prove the right to work in the UK. The Guardian has more information here.

Art, Music and Copyright

IPKat has an article on the EU’s first draft of the Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content. Read the insights 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 were four defamation (libel and slander) claims issued on the media and communications list last week.

Last Week in the Courts

On Tuesday 13 January 2026, Heather Williams J heard applications in the cases of Tooley v Telegraph Media Group Ltd, Tooley v Associated Newspapers Ltd and Tooley v Times Newspapers Ltd.

On the same day Richard Spearman KC heard an application in the case of AMV v TDX.

As mentioned above, on Thursday 15 January 2026 there was a pre-trial hearing in the case of Baroness Lawrence and ors v Associated Newspapers KB-2022-003316 before Nicklin J.

On Friday 16 January 2026, Griffith J heard the trial of a preliminary issue in the libel case of CJJ Law v Sapsford KB-2024-001124.

On the same day, there was a hearing in the breach of confidence case of HCE v UEH KB-2025-004721.

Media Law in Other Jurisdictions

Australia

The South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas has received a legal notice from the Palestinian writer and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah following her cancellation at the Adelaide writers’ week. The treatment of Abdul-Fattah has already resulted in the event’s cancellation as the majority of guests scheduled to appear withdrew in protest, most of the Adelaide festival board decided to resign, as well as the the writers’ week director. Abdul-Fattah accused Malinauskas of linking her to the Bondi atrocity and allegedly suggesting, by way of analogy, that she was “an extremist terrorist sympathiser”. The Guardian has more information here.

Europe

TikTok will begin to roll out new age-verification technology across the EU in the coming weeks, as calls grow for an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s in countries across Europe. Reuters and the Guardian have more information.

Hong Kong

On 12 January 2026, a Hong Kong court heard arguments about the sentencing of democracy advocate and onetime-media magnate Jimmy Lai, whose conviction under a national security law could land him in prison for the rest of his life. The controversy around his case means his sentencing will test Beijing’s diplomatic ties. PBS has more information here.

United States

A manager for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential election bid has abandoned a high-profile lawsuit against the Daily Beast, 10 months after complaining the news outlet had defamed him in reporting on campaign expenditures. Chris LaCivita, who co-managed Trump’s successful campaign, alleged the Daily Beast fabricated claims about his campaign compensation and deliberately damaged his professional reputation in its reporting about millions of dollars LaCivita’s company received from the Trump campaign. The claim was dropped on 16 January 2026. The Daily Beast said it had not retracted the story, made no apology and had not made any cash payment to LaCivita. The Guardian has more information here.

The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children is suing the artificial intelligence company behind Grok as a result of sexually-exploitative deepfake images of her created by the chatbot. Ashley St Clair said that the images have caused her humiliation and emotional distress. The lawsuit was filed just before ‍California Attorney ‍General Rob Bonta sent a cease-and-desist letter to Musk’s xAI company demanding that it stop the creation and distribution of Grok-generated nonconsensual sexualised imagery, Al Jazeera has more information here.

Five major US publishers have filed lawsuits against Google claiming its “deceptive and manipulative” adtech practices seriously limited their potential revenue. The actions come after the US Justice Department successfully sued Google for violating antitrust law by monopolising digital advertising markets, harming “Google’s publishing customers” as well as consumers. A ruling on what Google can be made to do to restore competition is expected this year. The Press Gazette has more information here.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is fighting to unmask the owner of Facebook and Instagram accounts of a community watch group monitoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Pennsylvania. Defending the right to post about ICE sightings anonymously is a Meta account holder for MontCo Community Watch, John Doe. Ars Technica has more information here.

Research and Resources

Next Week in the Courts

As mentioned above, on Monday 19 January 2026 the trial will begin in Lawrence and ors v Associated Newspapers KB-2022-003316.  The trial is listed for 10 weeks.

On the same day, Eady J will hand down judgment in the case of Feldman v Gambling Commission, (heard 8 to 12 December 2025) and Aidan Eardley KC will hand down judgment in the case of RAJ v MSH  KB-2021-004157.

On Tuesday 20 January 2026 there will be a hearing in the case of Al Masarir v Kingdom of Saudi Arabia QB-2019-003909.

On Thursday and Friday 22 and 23 January 2026 there will be a two day hearing in the case of Ahluwalia v Verma KB-2023-001466

Reserved Judgments

Hurst v Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, heard 27 and 28 November 2025 (Collins Rice J).

Ali v Hussain, heard 26 and 27 November 2025.

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).