The opinion of Gorsuch J for the US Supreme Court in 303 Creative LLC v Elenis 600 US (2023) (Opinion (pdf) | Justia) has been widely welcomed on the US political right as a victory religious rights and just as broadly deplored on the US political left as a defeat for LGBTQ+ rights. Many on both sides agree, however, that – either way – it is an important defence of free speech. I am sorry to say that it is nothing of the sort. It is a stalking horse for an approach that will have pernicious consequences for the First Amendment. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Tag: Cearta.ie (Page 1 of 4)
After a long and distinguished career as a popular public servant, first as a councillor, then then as a TD, and finally as a Minister, Pat Carey (pictured left) is now a public affairs consultant. On 11 and 12 November 2015, the Irish Independent reported that a Garda investigation was under way into allegations of child sexual abuse against an un-named former Minister. He claimed that he was identifiable as the person concerned, and he felt he had no choice but to issue a statement denying the allegations. Continue reading
Cold winds now blow in the US Supreme Court around the stability of a century’s worth of First Amendment doctrine; even New York Times Co v Sullivan 376 US 254 (1964), the most stable of that Court’s speech precedents, now seems in danger of being blown away in the storm, thanks to the recent decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen 597 US __ (2022) (Opinion pdf | Cornell | Justia | SCOTUSblog). Continue reading
Two recent cases demonstrate two very different privacy issues arising out data breaches suffered by the telecommunications company TalkTalk in 2014 and 2015. Smith v TalkTalk Telecom Group plc [2022] EWHC 1311 (QB) (27 May 2022) concerned claims for damages for both breaches; whilst Sterritt v Telegraph Media Group Ltd [2022] NIQB 43 (09 June 2022) concerned the privacy of one of the hackers involved in the second breach. In my previous post, I looked at the limits of claims for misuse of private information for both breaches in Smith. In this post, I want to look at Smith (again) and at Sterritt, to consider the limits of a claim in negligence in such cases. Continue reading
Two recent cases demonstrate two very different privacy issues arising out data breaches suffered by the telecommunications company TalkTalk in 2014 and 2015. Smith v TalkTalk Telecom Group plc [2022] EWHC 1311 (QB) (27 May 2022) concerned claims for damages for both breaches; whilst Sterritt v Telegraph Media Group Ltd [2022] NIQB 43 (09 June 2022) concerned the privacy of one of the hackers involved in the second breach. In this post, I want to look at the limits of claims for misuse of private information for both breaches in Smith. In the next post, I will look at Smith (again) and at Sterritt, to consider the limits of a claim in negligence in such cases. Continue reading
The decision of Phelan J in Tallon v Director of Public Prosecutions [2022] IEHC 322 (31 May 2022) is a recent and important judgment on the scope of the free speech rights protected by Article 40.6.1(i) and Article 40.3.1 of the Constitution. It concerns the extent to which an anti-social behaviour order imposed pursuant to section 115(1) of the the Criminal Justice Act, 2006 (also here) can permissibly restrain constitutional free speech rights. Continue reading
I have just conducted a search on a popular search engine for “Seán Quinn”, and the message on the right – that Some results may have been removed under data protection law in Europe – appears at the bottom of each page of results. Continue reading
The 1 November 2020 marked the fourth anniversary of the commencement of the Department of Justice’s current review of Ireland’s defamation laws. In late October, a newspaper leader and a blogpost provided updates on where we are on our slow boat to defamation reform. Continue reading
The truth, as Oscar Wilde has Algernon Moncrieff remark to Jack Worthing in Act I of The Importance of Being Ernest, is rarely pure and never simple. Nowhere is this more evident than in a defamation courtroom. At common law, the defence of justification to a claim for defamation averred that the words complained of, in their natural and ordinary meaning, were true in substance and in fact. Continue reading
1. Balancing competing rights
Irish defamation cases are increasingly replete with comments stating the need to balance the constitutional right to freedom of expression with the constitutional right to a good name. Continue reading
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