The Hilary Legal Term ends on Wednesday 1 April 2026.  The short Easter term will begin on Tuesday 14 April 2026 and will end on Friday 22 May 2026.  There will be no Round Up next week but normal service will resume on Monday 13 April 2026.

On 25 March 2026, a Los Angeles jury found Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, and Google, which owns YouTube, negligent for the harms a 20-year old woman suffered after heavy childhood use of their platforms. The jury concluded the companies intentionally built addictive social media platforms and failed to warn users that their design features made the platforms addictive.

The woman, identified as Kaley, was awarded $6 million (£4.5 million) in damages; $3m was compensatory damages and $3m was punitive damages, because the jury determined Meta and Google “acted with malice, oppression or fraud” in the way the companies operated their platforms.

The case is treated as a bellwether in hundreds of pending suits that challenge social platforms’ designs rather than user-posted content. Meta and Google have announced their intention to appeal. Meta said “Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app.” A spokesperson for Google said: “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.” The BBC, Guardian, Reuters, NPR and The New York Times are some of the many news outlets to cover the decision.

Internet and Social Media

Privacy International has published a summary of its response to the inquiry of the UK Joint Committee on Human Rights to examine how human rights can be protected in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The summary of their written and oral evidence can be read here.

Data Privacy and Data Protection

On 23 March 2026, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) released new guidance clarifying the use of the new recognized legitimate interest lawful basis for processing personal information under UK data protection law. The new lawful basis was introduced in the UK Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. The ICO guidance aims to assist organizations in understanding the conditions and compliance requirements associated with handling personal data in situations where the recognized legitimate interest basis applies. The Privacy and Cybersecurity Law Blog has more information here.

On 25 March 2026, the ICO and Ofcom released a joint statement addressing the intersection of online safety and data protection in relation to age assurance. The Joint Statement targets online services likely to be accessed by children that are subject to both the Online Safety Act (OSA) and UK data protection legislation. The Privacy and Cybersecurity Law Blog has more information here.

Newspapers Journalism and Regulation

QueerAF has just published a long-form article which details how British media coverage shapes public understanding of Trans+ rights, particularly through coverage of legal cases. The piece follows developments from the 2019 employment tribunal involving Maya Forstater that quickly gained international attention after support on twitter from J.K. Rowling; up until more recent court rulings and policy debates. The article highlights how certain cases have received widespread media attention, and as a result, were sometimes met with disputed or simplified interpretations of these events. Hacked Off comments on the article here.

The Media Reform Coalition (MRC) blog has published a statement on the appointment of Matt Brittin, former boss of Google’s European operations, as the new Director-General of the BBC. He succeeds Tim Davie, Director-General since 2020, who announced his resignation in November 2025. MRC calls on Britten to prove that he is fully committed to the principles and values of universal public media, serving the needs and interests of all audiences.

IPSO

Statements in Open Court and Apologies

On Friday 27 March 2026, a statement in open court was read out settling the long running libel claim Fry v Agilah-Hood KB-2023-002563. The claimant had sued over an email sent in April 2021 to the headmistress and safeguarding lead of a school where he worked, which contained serious allegations. The parties settled the proceedings the day before the summary judgment and amendment applications were due to be heard, and instead a joint statement was read out in open court. Read the 5RB summary here.

New Issued Cases

There was one defamation (libel and slander) claim, one harassment claim, and one breach of confidence claim filed on the media and communications list last week.

Last Week in the Courts

Between Monday 23 and Friday 27 March 2026, the trial in the case of Baroness Lawrence & ors v ANL KB-2022-003316 continued before Nicklin J. The Press Gazette has an update on the trial here.

On 23 March 2026, Steyn J handed down both judgments in Tooley v Associated Newspapers Ltd & Anor [2026] EWHC 683 (KB) and Tooley v Times Media Ltd [2026] EWHC 675 (KB). The claimant issued two claims in defamation and malicious falsehood against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), in respect of three articles published in the Daily Mail, and a claim in the same causes of action against Telegraph Media Group Ltd (TMG), in respect of an article published in the Telegraph. All these articles relate to a story about the claimant being arrested following an argument with her husband. She also made a claim against Times Media Ltd (TML) for libel and malicious falsehood in respect of an article published in The Times with the headline ‘Wife of anti-woke professor says she was ‘bullied’ by police’. Both sets of claims were the subject of a joint directions hearing. Steyn J reinstated the claim against The Telegraph [32] but dismissed the claim against Associated Newspapers as it was filed after the limitation period [62]. Applications for interim injunctions were refused and a Norwich Pharmacal Order was denied due to the claimant’s failure to show any arguable wrongdoing. Steyn J also refused the claimant’s applications against TML for an interim injunction, Norwich Pharmacal Order and to amend her case against TML to include misuse of private information (MPI) and breach of confidence [21]. Steyn J held that the claimant’s primary aim was to protect her reputation rather than address MPI [30]. However, the statements were not unarguably defamatory [37] and that the claimant had not established her case for the requested orders.

On Tuesday 24, there was a one-day preliminary issues trial in the defamation case of Pearson v Essex Police & anr KB-2025-002704.

On the same day there was a hearing in the data protection case of Michael Ashley v HMRC KB-2024-000136.

On Wednesday 25, there was a one-day adjourned remedies hearing in the defamation case of Rzucek v Vinnicombe KB-2022-004547.

On the same day, there was a preliminary issues trial in the case of Guerilla Marketing Ltd v NGM Advertising Ltd & Ors KB-2025-001392.

On Thursday 26, there was a one-day pre-trial review hearing in the data protection case of Lazarevic, A Child, By Nadezda Lazarevic As Litigation Friend and another v Refinitiv Limited KB-2024-003170.

On 27 March 2026, judgment on preliminary issues was handed down by Mr Justice Vassal-Adams in TWH Legal Services Ltd (t/a B&l Solicitors) & Anor v Niazi & Anor [2026] EWHC 746 (KB). This is a libel claim relating to three online reviews concerning a solicitor. The claimants pleaded one identical meaning for all three reviews, which was described as “unorthodox” by Vassal-Adams J [13]. Part of the purpose of requiring a claimant to specify the words complained of is to make it clear what words are relied upon for each meaning that has been identified [40]. The second rule on pleading a meaning for each publication reflects the legal principle that every publication gives rise to its own cause of action, with the potential for differently worded publications on the same theme to give rise to different defences. For this reason, the Vassal-Adams J was unable to adopt the claimants’ approach and to arrive at one meaning that applies to all three reviews; even where the three Reviews cover similar themes and there is a significant degree of overlap [41]. It was found that the three reviews against the solicitor were defamatory at common law and were a mixture of fact and opinion [47], [50] [57-8], but the company was not defamed and does not have a claim in libel [64].

As mentioned above, on 27 March 2026, a statement in open court was read out settling the libel claim of Fry v Agilah-Hood KB-2023-002563.

On the same day, the claimant’s application was heard in a one-day hearing in the misuse of private information case of Alexander David Greensill v Department for Business and Trade KB-2024-000648.

Media Law in Other Jurisdictions

Hong Kong

Police in Hong Kong can now demand phone or computer passwords from those who are suspected of breaching the wide-ranging National Security Law. Those who refused could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to HK $100,000 (£9600) and individuals who provide “false or misleading information” could face up to three years in jail. It comes as part of new amendments to a bylaw under the NSL that the government gazetted on 23 March 2026. The BBC has more information here.

South Korea

South Korean lawmakers are seeking legal means to limit exposure of “algorithm-driven” content to children as concerns over the influence digital content has on minors grows. Revisions to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection have been floated which are designed to grant the media watchdog Korea Media and Communications Commission the authority to impose a set of obligations on social media platform operators, by providing a legal definition of social network service providers, which does not yet exist in South Korean law. The Korean Herald has more information here.

United States

The AI company Anthropic, which runs the chatbot Claude, has won the first stage in its lawsuit against the Pentagon. Judge Rita Lin found for the AI company and ordered that the directives from President Trump and US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth that all government agencies immediately stop using Anthropic tools could not be enforced. Judge Lin noted that the government was trying to “cripple” Anthropic and “chill public debate” because of the company’s concerns over how its technology was being used by the US Department of Defence. The BBC has more information here. On the other hand, the IAPP blog has an article analysing how President Trump’s Cyber Strategy for America reflects a quiet reset of the baseline for US government plans to use defensive and offensive cyber capabilities to protect US companies.

Class action lawsuits have been filed against Meta, eyewear maker Luxottica and other companies associated with the development of Meta AI Glasses, accusing the companies of allegedly violating federal and California laws by allegedly surreptitiously recording users’ surroundings and then using that information to train Meta’s AI programs. Since early March, more than a dozen class actions have been filed in San Francisco federal court that all take aim at the defendants over the same allegations: that Meta and its partners allegedly misled people using Meta AI Glasses into believing their use of the product would remain private. Fortune and Class Action Lawsuits have more information.

A judge has dismissed an antitrust case brought by two US news publishers alleging Google has monopolised the online news market via its search business. The case was brought by Helena World Chronicle LLC and Emmerich Newspapers, who said they were bringing the lawsuit on behalf of themselves and on behalf of all publishers of online news brands in the US whose websites had been indexed by Google since November 2019. However, a US District Judge said the publishers did not successfully prove they have antitrust standing, meaning that they had suffered harm as a result of the tech giant’s actions within the search market. The Press Gazette has more information here.

The US Supreme Court has ruled that an internet service provider could not be found contributorily liable because it continued to provide internet access to subscribers whose accounts were associated with music piracy. It held that supplying internet access to the general public, even with knowledge that some users may infringe copyrights, is not enough by itself to establish contributory copyright infringement. The Evan Law blog has more information here.

As mentioned above, on 25 March 2026, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google negligent for the harms a 20-year old woman suffered after heavy childhood use of their platforms.

Research and Resources

Next Week in the Courts 

The trial in the case of Baroness Lawrence & ors v ANL KB-2022-003316  will continue on Monday 30 March 2026 and Tuesday 31 March 2026 before Nicklin J.

On Monday 30 March 2026 there will be a directions hearing in the case of Northcott v Hundeyin KB-2023-002761.

On Tuesday 31 March 2026 there will be a contempt directions hearing in the case of Foot Anstey LLP and another v Stimson KB-2024-002927.

On the same day there will be a hearing in the case of Hammacott v Google LLC KB-2026-000912

Reserved Judgments

Clutterbuck v The Chief Constable of West Mercia Police, heard 16-18 March 2026 (Dan Squires KC)

Graham and another v Beckett, heard 17 March 2026 (Heather Williams J)

Colette Allen is the host of Newscast on Dr Thomas Bennett and Professor Paul Wragg’s The Media Law Podcast (@MediaLawPodcast).