Category: Media (Page 1 of 153)

The Trinity Legal Term ended on Friday 29 July 2022.  The Michaelmas Legal Term will begin on 3 October 2022.  Inforrm will be taking a summer break over the next two months and our next Law and Media Round Up will be in October.   We will, however, continue posting from time to time over this period. Continue reading

On 20 July 2022, the Government published its Response to the Call for Evidence on Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation [pdf]. The Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab claimed that this sets out a series of measures to prevent so-called SLAPPs. According to the Ministry of Justice, this includes a new tool for the courts to throw out meritless claims quicker and a cap on costs to prevent the rich from “bullying” journalists with the threat of expensive litigation. Continue reading

The House of Commons vote on the Online Safety Bill has been delayed until the autumn following the resignation of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. This has prompted a debate between MPs, free speech and child safety campaigners over the vitality of the Bill, and questions regarding the fate of the Bill under a new Tory leader. Continue reading

The Law Commission has published its final report (pdf) on reforming the criminal law as it relates to intimate image abuse. The taking and sharing of sexual images without consent violates the sexual autonomy and bodily privacy and can cause serious harm to victim-survivors. Existing intimate image abuse offences are not fit for purpose, and the lack of a comprehensive legal regime means many instances of abuse fall between a gap in the law. For example, upskirting is a criminal offence but downblousing is not; nor is sharing an intimate image that has been altered (aka “deepfakes”). Continue reading

The Ada Lovelace Institute has published an independent review of the UK’s regulation of biometric technologies, authored by Matthew Ryder QC, which found that the UK requires “an ambitious new legislative framework specific to biometrics,” as the current regulatory regime is “fragmented, confused and failing to keep pace.” Continue reading

On 13 June 2022, Arron Banks’ libel claim against Carole Cadwalladr was dismissed by Steyn J (Banks v Cadwalladr [2022] EWHC 1417 (QB)). Banks sued Cadwalladr over comments in a TED talk and tweet relating to his relationship with the Russian government.  The public interest defence was substantially successful.. Continue reading

On 9 June 2022, the trial of preliminary issues in the case of The Duke of Sussex v Associated Newspapers was held before Nicklin J. The Duke is suing the publishers of the Mail on Sunday over articles which he claims meant that he had “lied”, “improperly and cynically” tried to manipulate public opinion, and “tried to keep his legal fight with the Government secret from the public” over his security arrangements when he is in the UK. The Press Gazette has more information here. The Sunday Times, Independent and Evening Standard also covered the hearing. Continue reading

Johnny Depp has won his libel case against his ex-wife Amber Heard over her Washington Post Op-Ed in which she said that she was the victim of domestic abuse. Explaining why the outcome likely differs from the 2020 UK judgment against The Sun over similar allegations, Persephone Bridgman Baker, a partner at Carter-Ruck, points to the use of “more evidence in the US proceedings about Heard’s credibility, on which the judge in the UK placed little importance. While the judge in the UK proceedings decided Heard was a credible witness, that additional evidence may have swung a jury.” Continue reading