At the High Court, Mr Justice Hilliard stressed that quashing the warrants does not end the ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct in public office, which Mountbatten-Windsor denies. Items seized during the searches remain with police while a further hearing in 2027 will determine whether they can lawfully retain and use the material as evidence. 5RB has a summary. The BBC, Sky News, Guardian, The Times, Reuters, FT, NYT, Law Society Gazette covered the story.
The BBC has issued an unreserved apology and paid substantial compensation to PinkNews bosses Benjamin Cohen and Anthony James after settling a defamation lawsuit over false allegations of sexual misconduct and pressuring female staff to act as surrogates, broadcast in a December 2024 iPlayer documentary. The couple said the reporting had severely affected their family and professional lives and are donating the compensation to the MS Society and Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Charity. Press Gazette, Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times and Deadline have more information.
Internet and Social Media
The UK government is considering stricter age-verification measures, including mandatory passport or driving licence checks and credit checks, to enforce a proposed social media ban for under-16s. The plans follow concerns that Australia’s similar restrictions have been easily bypassed by children using VPNs. The proposed rules would target platforms with addictive features, such as infinite scrolling and autoplay, while 16- and 17-year-olds could face overnight usage curfews and restrictions on certain features. The Times covered the story.
Molly Russell’s father, Ian Russell, will appear in a cinema advert before screenings of the film, The Social Reckoning, telling audiences that “Instagram helped kill my daughter.” In the advert, Russell argues that little has changed since his daughter’s death in 2017 after exposure to harmful online content. The 30-second campaign, supported by free advertising space from major UK cinema chains, urges the public to donate to the Molly Rose Foundation and hold social media companies accountable for algorithms that promote harmful content to young people. The Guardian reported on the development. Read the Molly Rose Foundation’s statement here.
Data privacy and data protection
Online retailer, ASOS has confirmed that hackers accessed vast amounts of customer data, including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, customer numbers and website search histories, which potentially affected millions of users. The breach reportedly occurred after criminals obtained an employee’s login credentials by impersonating a trusted contact. Although passwords and banking details were not compromised, cybersecurity experts warn that the stolen information could be used for targeted phishing and impersonation scams. The BBC, Guardian, The Times, Sky News, Reuters and Computer Weekly reported on the breach.
The ICO has launched a six-week call for evidence to examine how organisations manage data protection risks linked to agentic AI. This regulatory action follows ten major AI developers, including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI, making or committing to changes to improve transparency, strengthen people’s data rights and assess safeguards.
Freshfields has an article exploring the tension between the extensive personal data collection required for sanctions compliance, including Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and screening, and the GDPR’s data protection principles.
Mayer Brown has an article analysing case law on the privacy implications when authorities access personal devices during competition investigations and dawn raids on EU businesses.
Surveillance
The International Federation of Journalists has published a global report calling for stronger laws and regulations to protect journalists from surveillance. The report, Hacked Silence: Journalists and Surveillance, examines legal frameworks and case studies across ten countries, exposing gaps that allow governments, spyware operators and technology companies to monitor journalists and suppress dissent. The IFJ says stronger safeguards and a coordinated global response are urgently needed to protect media freedom and the public’s right to know.
Newspaper journalism and regulation
At least five journalists, including two reporters from the Leicester Gazette and three freelance photojournalists, were briefly arrested under s13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 while covering a pro-Palestine Action protest outside an Israeli-owned drone factory in Leicester. The journalists were subsequently de-arrested after the police verified their identities and established that no offences had been committed. The Leicester Gazette has taken legal advice and plans to lodge a formal complaint with the Independent Office for Police Conduct, arguing that the arrests interfered with press freedom and the right to report on matters of public interest. The Press Gazette and BBC have /more information.
Artificial intelligence
Donald Trump has warned that anyone who continues to use the term “artificial intelligence” instead of his preferred phrase, “super intelligence”, will be considered “the enemy” by the White House. The remarks follow an executive order to rebrand the technology, with the administration updating its website and Elon Musk reportedly planning to rename his AI company accordingly. Politico, Forbes, The Independent and Arab News covered the story.
IPSO
- 01351-26 Williams-Key v The Sun, 1 Accuracy, No breach – after investigation
- 01409-26 Lapena v The Daily Telegraph, 1 Accuracy, Breach – sanction: action as offered by publication
Statements in open court and apologies
On 8 October 2026, The Independent issued a public apology to British filmmaker Beau Kerouac in the case of Kerouac v Independent Digital News & Media Ltd through the making of a joint Statement in Open Court before Mr Justice Eardley. The Independent had published an article, on 7 February 2025, entitled: “‘Aspiring Artist’ accused of faking Hollywood career to swindle movie investors out of $500k”. The Independent subsequently updated the article, on 17 July 2025, with the following wording: “Update: The case against Beau Kerouac was dismissed on 6/17/25. As the case was dismissed at an early stage, the court did not make a finding in favor of either party in terms of liability”. The updated article suggested that although the case was dismissed, there remained a question mark over whether there remained credible grounds to suspect that Beau Kerouac had committed a large-scale fraud, but the court had never had an opportunity to consider them. The joint Statement in Open Court, (which can be found here), made clear that this allegation was entirely false: “No findings of liability, fraud, or wrongdoing have ever been made against the Claimant. The allegations are untrue.” The Independent apologised to Beau Kerouac for the considerable distress and embarrassment caused to him by the article and has agreed to pay him libel damages, his legal costs and to permanently remove the article from its website.
As mentioned above, the BBC issued an unreserved apology and paid significant compensation to PinkNews bosses in settlement of a defamation claim.
New issued cases
There were no new claims issued in the Media and Communications List this week.
Last week in the courts
On 5 October 2026 there was a hearing of an application in the case of PPT v (1) SKG and (2) GVA before Nicklin J. On 9 October 2026 he gave judgment, having de-anonymised, the defendants, but maintaining the claimant’s anonymity PPT v Independent Television News Ltd & Ors [2026] EWHC 2560 (KB).
On 6 October 2026 Cavanagh J gave a judgment adjourning a contempt directions hearing in the case of HXZ v NMX [2026] EWHC 2575 (KB) .
Media law in other jurisdictions
Australia
Australia’s privacy regulator has launched an investigation into Shenzhen Qingcheng, the China-based developer of the HeyCyan app used in Kmart’s $89 Anko smartglasses. Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind said the company failed to respond to inquiries and raised further concerns about its technology and privacy policy. improve this sentence: The investigation follows a petition with more than 55,000 signatures to restrict the glasses’ use and Federal government plans to restrict their use in government workplaces. The Guardian, ABC and Reuters have more information.
Azerbaijan
The ECtHR held that Azerbaijan had violated the Article 8 privacy and Article 10 free expression rights of the applicant in the case of Anar Mammadov v Azerbaijan (Applications nos. 12043/19 and 50484/20). The applicant was a journalist who was convicted and given a suspended prison sentence of over five years for articles discussing an assassination attempt on the head of Ganja’s city authority. The Court ruled that his conviction unjustifiably restricted freedom of expression under Article 10, as domestic courts failed to take account of all the facts and relevant issues and provide sufficient justification for the lengthy sentence [131]. It also found that the seizure and inspection of his phones, laptop and documents breached his right to privacy under Article 8 because the interference was not in accordance with the law [80]. The applicant was awarded EUR 6,000 in damages.
Canada
On 6 October 2026, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta handed down judgement in the case of Quinney v McCarthy, 2026 ABKB 700. In November 2025, the court granted summary judgement in favour of the plaintiff for defamation through social media posts after McCarthy failed to defend the claim. McCarthy was ordered to remove all content concerning Quinney and refrain from further similar publications, but was found in contempt for failing to comply. The court awarded $100,000 in general damages and $25,000 in aggravated damages.
Europe
Plans to expand Europol’s AI powers to combat AI-driven crime have sparked privacy concerns, according to Politico. Critics warn that the reforms could allow the agency to retain data on vast numbers of people with no links to criminal activity for an extensive and unspecified period, while expanding its powers without strengthening independent oversight and safeguards for fundamental rights and data protection.
Turkey
Turkey has formally approved a law banning children under 15 from accessing social media, with the restrictions set to take effect on November 1. Platforms will be required to introduce age-verification systems using government-issued digital tokens, while services deemed addictive will be prohibited for children over 15. Politico, Le Monde and Türkiye Today have more information.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has condemned Turkey’s escalating crackdown on LGBTQ+ organisations, feminist groups, independent media and human rights activists. Since mid-September, court orders have blocked websites and social media accounts belonging to around a dozen organisations, while more than 60 activists and members have reportedly been detained and their homes and offices raided.
Research and Resources
- Rosario and Law, Privacy is Dead, Long Live Privacy: How Technology is the Only Hope for Financial Privacy in the Digital Age (2026) SMU Science & Technology Law Review, forthcoming.
- Haizel, et al, Polycentric Governance Gaps in U.S. AI and Privacy Law (2026) Paper presented at 2026 TPRC.
- Solove, Rethinking Privacy of the Mind: Why Protecting Neural Data Is Insufficient (2026) Wolters Kluwer Cybersecurity Policy Report.
- Hurwitz, The Unbearable Lightness of Data Portability: Three Lineages yet No Core (2026) Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts, forthcoming.
- Marouf and Pham, The Law of Visibility (2026) Vanderbilt Law Review, Vol. 80, Texas A&M University School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper, forthcoming 2027.
- Terkovich, Fourth Amendment Rights in the Age of Automated License Plate Recognition Cameras (2026) Touro Law Review: Vol. 41: No. 2, Article 11.
- Cinnamon, The Illusion of the Open Internet: Scraping Law and the Architecture of Exclusion (2026) Duke Law and Technology Review, Volume 27.
Next week in the courts
On 13 October 2026 Guy Vassall-Adams KC will hear an application in the libel case of Rixon v Barley KB-2025-001034
On 14 October 2026 Guy Vassall-Adams KC will hear an application in the libel case of Smith v Shaw KB-2025-003266.
Reserved judgements
We are not aware of any reserved media law judgments.
This Round Up was compiled by Jasleen Chaggar who is the Senior Legal and Policy Officer at Big Brother Watch.