Ofcom is investigating a fairness and privacy complaint from former BBC presenter Huw Edwards over Channel 5’s drama about his downfall, “Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards.” The disgraced presenter said the programme gave a misleading and unfair account and that he did not have a fair chance to respond to alleged inaccuracies. Channel 5 will robustly defend the complaint, saying it drew on extensive interviews, text exchanges and court reporting. The Times, The Guardian, Daily Mail, GB News, HuffPost UK and Deadline covered the development.

Author Sally Rooney will no longer be able to supply her novels to UK booksellers, after she said she would keep using her royalties to support the proscribed group, Palestine Action. Her publisher, Faber, said current legislation means it cannot pass UK earnings on to her and consequently took the decision to withdraw sales in full agreement with Rooney. The BBC, Guardian, RTE, The Irish Times and AP News reported on the story. Over 150 public figures, including Gary Lineker, Kate Nash and Owen Jones, signed a joint letter opposing the withdrawal which they argued amounts to “censorship” and urged the government to amend the anti-terror legislation. The letter was published in The New Statesman.

Reform UK has reported ITV to the police and plans to bring civil proceedings against the broadcaster’s board of directors and journalists, after an ITV Exposure documentary revealed racist remarks by party councillors and candidates. Home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf alleges that an undercover reporter falsified her passport to get a job as a Reform press officer, and that two others breached election law by being paid to canvass in Portsmouth. ITV said it stands by its journalism, insisting the programme complied with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code and the law and was in the public interest.. The NUJ characterised the legal action as a “thinly-masked SLAPP style move.” The Press Gazette, FT, Telegraph, Guardian, The Independent, The National Scot and Daily Echo.

Internet and Social Media

A serious vulnerability in PHP, the programming language behind roughly 70% of websites (including WordPress, Wikipedia and Slack), has led governments and organisations in Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, France and Germany to temporarily take sites offline while they apply fixes. After researchers testing cyberdefences found the flaw, the language’s maintainers issued a patch, and security agencies in the US and UK urged anyone unable to update immediately to disconnect their systems, warning that the weakness could give attackers direct access to servers’ files and databases. The Guardian, BBC, Sky News, The Telegraph, Reuters, The Independent and The Times covered the story. Mishcon de Reya has an article examining what the vulnerability means for organisations.

A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $25bn, its largest fine ever, after a jury found the company spent years misleading the public about how Facebook handled user data and profited from hate speech. Meta’s lawyer said the ruling makes doing business in the state “all but impossible” and that the company will appeal. The BBC, Reuters, Guardian, CNBC, NYT and AP News have more information.

The Brett Wilson Media Law Blog has an article analysing a series of legal challenges to Ofcom’s enforcement of the Online Safety Act, brought by companies including X, TikTok and Roblox.

Data privacy and data protection

The ICO has opened a call for evidence on how organisations are managing data protection risks from agentic AI. Agentic AI systems run autonomously with little human intervention required. The consultation closes on 20 November 2026 and the responses will shape the regulator’s statutory code of practice on AI and Automated Decision-Making. Freshfields has a blog setting out the current obligations of organisations currently using agentic AI.

 Surveillance

The Cato Institute has an interview with Research Fellow Nicholas Anthony about the state of financial surveillance in the US and the Bank Secrecy Act.

Newspapers, Journalism and Regulation

Meta has given news publishers until 30 October to either leave its platforms or accept new terms that would give it sweeping rights to scrape and reuse their content, including for AI training. The News Media Association called it a “landgrab” and urged ministers and regulators to intervene, while the Movement for an Open Web is preparing a legal challenge through the European Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. The campaign group advised publishers to tighten their website terms to prohibit scraping and to delete their Meta business accounts before the deadline. The Press Gazette, The Telegraph, Reuters and MLex have more information.

Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) is on trial at Southwark Crown Court, accused of harassing two Daily Mail journalists. When the paper reported on Yaxley-Lennon’s presence in Cyprus during the Southport unrest, he left a voicemail for the editor-in-chief Ted Verity, saying he would “make you famous and your families” and had “located every f****** one of you.” Yaxley-Lennon has pleaded not guilty and claims he wasn’t threatening violence. He told the jury he wanted to “put pressure” on the journalists but did not mean to intimidate them. The Press Gazette, Sky News, Guardian, The Independent, London Evening Standard and GB News covered the trial.

Artificial Intelligence

Matrix Chambers has a blog post examining how AI agents control access to the market and the implications for our understanding of competition law.

IPSO

Statements in open court and apologies

On Tuesday 20 October 2026, there was a statement in open court in the case of Hajdukova v Amazon UK Services Ltd & anor –  QB-2020-003893 .

New issued cases

There were no new claims issued in the Media and Communications List this week.

 Last week in the courts

On Monday 19 October 2026, there was a trial of a preliminary issue before Hill J in the libel case of Chandale v Sovereign Network Group & ors – KB-2026-000092.

On the same day Eardley J handed down judgment in the case of CTY v LQS [2026] EWHC 2642 (KB).

As already mentioned, on Tuesday 20 October 2026, there was a statement in open court in Hajdukova v Amazon UK Services Ltd & anor – QB-2020-003893 .

On Wednesday 21 October 2026, there was a hearing in Senna v Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd – KB-2026-001121.

Media law in other jurisdictions

Australia

On 23 October 2026, the Supreme Court of New South Wales handed down judgement in the case of AI Film Production Limited (a company incorporated in the UK, CRN 08669219) v Wilson [2026] NSWSC 1200. UK production company AI Film brought a claim against actress Rebel Wilson arguing that social media posts she made about the film “The Deb” resulted in it not being profitable. A similar claim in defamation arising from the same statements had already been dismissed. The judge dismissed claims for misleading or deceptive conduct and injurious falsehood, finding that, whilst the posts were made with malice, the plaintiffs were unable to show a causal link between Wilson’s statements and the financial loss suffered. The court also dismissed the application for an injunction, finding that Wilson had not made similar statements since the release of the film. ABC and News.com covered the ruling.

On the same day, the Federal Court of Australia dismissed the plaintiff’s application for an interim injunction in the case of US1 Critical Minerals Limited (Formerly Gladiator Resources Limited) v Price (No 2) [2026] FCA 1583. The plaintiff is a mining company that claimed the defendant conducted a campaign of false, misleading or deceptive publications about it. The company sought to restrain the defendant from publishing statements relating to the proceedings and its business practices. The application was dismissed as the plaintiff had failed to establish the factual basis for the injunction [55].

Gabon

Gabon’s media regulator, the High Communication Authority has lifted the social media ban it imposed eight months ago, which it had justified by saying online content was fuelling division in the midst of social unrest and strikes. The ban drew widespread criticism and many people turned to VPNs to get around it. The BBC and Citizen Digital have more information.

Pakistan

Pakistan’s media regulator has barred satellite TV channels from broadcasting live coverage of blasts, firing and terrorist attacks amidst militant violence. They have been ordered to only air verified information from official agencies and to use time delays and independent editorial boards. The International Federation of Journalists has warned that the measures could restrict independent reporting.

United States

A federal court in New York has ruled that the Office of Personnel Management broke the Privacy Act when it gave DOGE agents broad access to millions of federal employee records, violating rules on both disclosing records between agencies and protecting the confidentiality of records. The judge rejected the claim that access was granted to facilitate a modernisation agenda. The case was brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of federal employee unions and individual workers.

Research and Resources

Next week in the courts

We are not aware of any MAC List cases listed for this week.

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.