The final hearing before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in the claim brought by Vincent Kearney and the BBC against MI5, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Metropolitan Police Service, Durham Constabulary and others concluded on 3 March 2926. The open hearing focused on Mr Kearney’s claim for damages after MI5, the PSNI and the Metropolitan Police had admitted unlawfully acquiring Mr Kearney’s communication data between 2006 and 2013.

At the time, Mr Kearney was BBC Northern Ireland’s Home Affairs Correspondent and a reporter for BBC Spotlight. MI5, the PSNI and the Metropolitan Police accepted their actions had breached Mr Kearney’s Article 8 and 10 ECHR rights and also the BBC’s Article 10 ECHR rights. The case represents one of the most extensive known examples of targeting of a journalist by UK law enforcement bodies in an effort to identify confidential journalistic sources. Read 5RB’s summary here.

Digital-rights groups have asked Ofcom for guidance on content moderation rules in light of the recent High Court ruling questioning the legality of the government’s ban on the activist group Palestine Action, (R (Ammori) v Home Secretary [2026] EWHC 292 (Admin)). Platforms must still remove “terrorist content” under the Online Safety Act while the ruling is under appeal, creating legal ambiguity about whether related content should remain online. The Guardian has more information here. The UK Constitutional Law blog has a summary and defence of the High Court decision here.

A poet is threatening Arts Council England (ACE) with legal action after a magazine it funds withdrew her work from publication based on her “social media presence”, which she believes refers to gender-critical posts. A letter sent to ACE by solicitors representing the poet Abigail Ottley argues the public body “failed” to “conduct a sufficient inquiry” into the decision not to publish Ottley’s poem made by the Aftershock Review, which the lawyers accuse of discrimination. The Guardian has more information here.

Internet and Social Media

The LSE Media Blog has an article that considers UK and EU proposed actions on social media bans and addictive platform design, with a focus on the European Commission’s investigation into TikTok.

Surveillance

The Privacy International blog has an article on the shift by government militaries to contract with AI firms and the strain these contracts place on companies’ ethical commitments to user privacy. PI warns against governments use of national security law to evade scrutiny, stating that the public deserves to know how these companies’ technologies are being deployed against people.

Newspapers, Journalism and Regulation

On 6 March 2026 it was announced that the European media firm, Axel Springer, had agreed to purchase the Telegraph Media Group for £575 million.  There was a piece on the BBC website  and in the Guardian, in a piece entitled “German twist in the Telegraph tale shatters Lord Rothermere’s dreams“.

IPSO

The following rulings were published last week:

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 no new issued cases on the media and communications list last week.

Last Week in the Courts

The trial in the case of Baroness Lawrence v Associated Newspapers continued this week before Nicklin J. The Press Gazette covered the week’s proceedings.

As mentioned above, the final hearing in Kearney & BBC v MI5, PSNI and ors concluded on 3 March 2026 after two days.

On 4 March 2026 there was a trial of a preliminary issue in the defamation case of TWH Legal Services Limited t/a B&L Solicitors and another v Shanaz and another KB-2025-000304 .  The claimant firm of solicitors has sued a former employee over online reviews which labelled the firm’s boss a “fraudster”.

On the same day, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment answering a procedural question on limitation in Siniakovich v Hassan-Soudey & Ors [2026] EWCA Civ 215. The CoA was asked whether the failure to pay the correct fee for issue of the claim form meant that an “action” is not “brought” for limitation purposes when the claim form is received in the court office? Andrews LJ, with whom Warby LJ and Zacaroli LJ agreed, answered “no.” The original claim related to, amongst other things, defamation and malicious falsehood. The CoA concluded that an action is brought (and thus time stopped for the purposes of the Limitation Act 1980) when a claim form is delivered to the court provided that a fee is proffered or paid (or a help with fees form lodged), even if that fee is not correct with reference to the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008. The CoA allowed the appeal against the decision to grant the Claimant’s application to backdate the issue of the claim after the correct fee was paid, holding that the Judge had no jurisdiction to backdate the issue of the claim form or change the date on which an action is brought. But following its conclusion on the relationship between the payment of court fees and the bringing of proceedings, the CoA accepted that the Claimant’s libel and malicious falsehood claims are not time-barred. Matrix has a summary here. Solicitors Journal has a summary here.

On  Friday 6 March 2026 there was a trial of a preliminary issue in the defamation case of Berg v Jones KB-2025-003160 .  The claim is brought by Raffi Berg, the BBC’s Middle East online editor against the journalist Owen Jones. The background to the claim is discussed here.

On the same day, Cavanagh J heard a disclosure application in the case of Lazarevic v Refinitiv KB-2024-003170.

Media Law in Other Jurisdictions

Canada

The Michael Geist blog has an article explaining why the Online Harms Act is the wrong way to regulate AI chatbots.

Ireland

TikTok’s challenge to the Data Protection Commission’s (DPC) finding that the social media giant breached privacy laws in transferring European users’ personal data to China has opened before the High Court.

In April 2025, following a lengthy investigation, the DPC concluded that TikTok breached the EU’s GDPR rules in sending the information to China to be accessed by engineers. Along with orders directing TikTok to suspend the data transfers and ensure compliance with data privacy laws, the DPC also imposed a fine of €530 million on the company. BreakingNews.ie has more information here.

Middle East 

The latest developments in the Middle East – marked by a significant surge in military activity and retaliatory strikes across the region – have been accompanied by a parallel intensification of cyber operations. It is common in such situations for state-sponsored hackers, hacktivist groups, and advanced persistent threat (APT) units to conduct coordinated campaigns against government systems, critical infrastructure, and private entities during conflict or warlike times. The Data Protection Report has an article examining the evolving cyber threat landscape that could arise from the current regional conflict and the potential implications for organisations operating within the Gulf.

Spain

Spain’s data protection authority this month published a resolution imposing a €500,000 administrative fine on Fútbol Club Barcelona for failing to conduct a legally compliant data protection impact assessment before processing biometric data from its roughly 143,000 members during a 2023 digital census update campaign. The fine marks one of the most detailed public rulings in Spain on what constitutes a deficient DPIA under the General Data Protection Regulation. PPCLand has more information here.

United States

U.S. app uninstalls of ChatGPT’s mobile app jumped 295% day-over-day on Saturday, February 28, as consumers responded to the news of OpenAI’s deal with the Department of Defense. Meanwhile, U.S. downloads for OpenAI competitor Anthropic’s Claude jumped after the company announced that it would not partner with the U.S. defense department.

On 2 March 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a significant decision, in Freeman v. 3Commas Technologies, reversing a district court’s dismissal of a class action against an Estonian software company for lack of personal jurisdiction. The ruling provides valuable guidance on when foreign technology companies can be haled into California courts based on their digital activities and online presence. DLA Piper has more information here.

Research and Resources

Next Week in the Courts

The trial in the case of Baroness Lawrence and ors v Associated Newspapers continues before Nicklin J.

On Monday 9 March 2026 Tipples J will hear an application in the defamation case of Di Giovanni v Kehoe KB-2025-003851.

Reserved Judgments

Setu Kamal v (1) Tax Policy Associates Ltd & (2) Daniel Neidle, heard 10 February 2026 (Collins Rice J)

Various Claimants v MGN, heard 27-30 January 2026, 3, 5 and 6 February 2026 (Fancourt J)

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).