Trump’s attack on the BBC is an opportunity to modernise the corporation – Damian Tambini The BBC faces a crisis: not only because it spliced together sections of Trump’s speech, thereby suggesting that he directly incited an insurrection, but also because when an internal investigation reported…

Seven in ten people think the papers regularly publish false information, we need to improve press regulation – Zahera Harb The resignation of the BBC’s director general and CEO of news is only the latest symptom of a deeper malaise in the media , a crisis of trust that runs through broadcasters…

Law and Media Round Up – 24 November 2025 The Government has published its long-awaited Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which will amend the existing Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018 and grant new powers to regulators and the Government in relation to cybersecurity.

AI liability in defamation Part 2: The UK – Rosalind English As I observed in Part I of this article, no UK court has yet issued a judgment in a libel or defamation claim concerning AI-generated content, but several cases and legal actions are emerging and the issue is widely anticipated to reach…

The political meddling that led to BBC crisis and how to stop it in the future – Steven Barnett The resignations of the BBC’s director general and director of news were shocking. Perhaps just as shocking is the US$1 billion legal threat the broadcaster now faces from US president Donald Trump.

Trump v the BBC: how could the case play out? – Rebecca Moosavian The BBC is the latest media organisation to be targeted by Donald Trump’s highly litigious machine. The fallout over a Panorama episode that included a misleadingly edited clip of the US president’s January 6 2021 speech led to the…

AI liability in defamation Part 1: The US picture – Rosalind English We all want to know about American libel law, now that President Trump has launched his pre-action missile at the BBC. If he pursues his claim it will be under Florida law, where his defamation action will not be statute barred.…

Law and Media Round Up – 17 November 2025 President Donald Trump says he plans to sue the BBC for anything between $1 to 5bn after Panorama edited his 6 January 2021 speech in a way the BBC admits mistakenly implied a direct call for violence. The BBC apologised and withdrew the clip but refused…

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 6 November 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

Law and Media Round Up – 10 November 2025 On 4 November 2025, Joanna Smith DBE J handed down judgment in Getty Images (US) Inc & Ors v Stability AI Ltd EWHC 2863 (Ch). The court found in Getty’s favour that the use of Stable Diffusion in the UK sometimes generated images bearing Getty’s trademarks.

New PRP Opinion Poll shows that the majority of the UK public back independent press regulation A new public opinion poll by YouGov, commissioned by the Press Recognition Panel ("PRP") shows that 54% of the public believe that the press should be regulated by a fully independent body.  22% support…

Was News International’s “Fake Sheik” a career criminal? – Paddy French For most legal professionals Mazher Mahmood — the former News of the World investigations editor — is a dim memory.  More than ten years ago he was caught lying on oath at the trial of the singer Tulisa Contostavlos.

Press Justice Project, Politicians and the Press: Half-day conference to feature Lord Shamash, Sir Vince Cable and Baroness Jones – Sophie Ellis On 12 November 2025, the Press Justice Project (PJP) will host a half-day conference at Lewis Silkin LLP’s London office (255 Blackfriars Road, SE1 9AX)…

Law and Media Round Up – 3 November 2025 On Monday 27 October 2025, there was a statement in open court in Richard Taylor v Pathe Productions Ltd KB-2023-003648 before Collins Rice J. The claimant, Richard Taylor, who was the former Deputy Registrar for the University of Leicester, sued actor…

How the Press Keep Getting it Wrong About the ECHR – Thomas Kinsella Researchers at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford have published a report examining public debate around the role of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). They found that discussion of…

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 31 October 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

Identifying wrongdoers: Is there a third, even better alternative? – Chris Zabilowicz In January 2025, Hugh Tomlinson KC published an article on this blog proposing a “better alternative” to identifying anonymous online wrongdoers in media disputes than Norwich Pharmacal Orders (“NPOs”) – the…

The price we all pay for IPSO’s abject failure as a Regulator: Part 2 – Jonathan Coad In 1999 The House of Lords made a seismic change to the law of defamation. Its effect was to fortify the power of Fleet Street to libel individuals for profit without sanction, thereby both fundamentally…

Cause for Complaint: Assessing the ICO’s Proposed New Approach to Data Protection Complaints – David Erdos The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)’s data protection complaint handling performance is currently in very clear crisis.  Despite its pledge to assess and respond to 80% of such…

Law and Media Round Up – 27 October 2025 The Applicants in Bradshaw & Others v United Kingdom 15653/22 have sought a referral to the Grand Chamber. The original application for judicial review under Article 3 Protocol 1 (A3P1) of the European Convention on Human Rights was brought by a group of…

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 23 October 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

Why deregulating online platforms is actually bad for free speech – Michael Gregory One of the first executive orders that President Trump signed after his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, was titled Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship. The order accused the previous…

The price we all pay for IPSO’s abject failure as regulator: Part 1 – Jonathan Coad For most of us the portal via which we glean information about key national and international issues is the media. It is essential therefore that we can rely on it both to (per Clause 1(i) of IPSO Editors Code)…

Law and Media Round Up – 20 October 2025 On Friday 17 October 2025, the Court of Appeal handed down judgement in the case of handed down judgement in the appeal of Blake v Fox EWCA Civ 1321.

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 16 October 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

How the First Amendment protects Americans’ speech, and how it does not – Ray Brescia Imagine a protest outside the funeral of a popular political leader, with some of the protesters celebrating the death and holding signs that say things like “God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11,” “America is…

South Africa: Courts uphold media freedom as the surge in prior restraint cases fails – Dario Milo ‘The Streisand effect’ is now known, according to Wikipedia, as ‘an unintended consequence of attempts to hide, remove or censor information, where the effort instead increases public awareness of…

In Defence of Graham Lineham and the Right to Offend – Iain Wilson Claims that the UK is in the midst of a free speech crisis and suffers from a “two-tier” justice system are unfounded, but the recent arrest of comedian/writer Graham Linehan at Heathrow Airport by armed police officers has…

Law and Media Round Up – 13 October 2025 A man who was fined for burning a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London has won his appeal against his conviction. Hamit Coskun shouted abusive comments about Islam as he held the flaming book aloft in Rutland Gardens, Knightsbridge, on…

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 2 October 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

Law and Media Round Up – 6 October 2025 Michaelmas term began on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 and will continue until Friday 19 December 2025.

Phone Hacking: New revelations of the Murdoch empire’s underbelly, from The Hack’s “real-life” journalist – Rodney Tiffen This is the humblest day of my life, declared Rupert Murdoch to a parliamentary committee on July 19, 2011. This was at the height of what the newspaper historian Roy…

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 26 September 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 18 July 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

Law and Media Round Up – 14 July 2025 The French court of appeal has overturned the defamation convictions of Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey, who falsely claimed in a 2021 YouTube video that First Lady Brigitte Macron was born male, under the name of her brother.

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 11 July 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

Law and Media Round Up – 7 July 2025 The Guardian has an article on the Italian oil firm Eni’s use of defamation claims against journalists and NGOs, which critics have called an intimidation campaign. Dubbed a ‘Slapp addict,’ Eni has filed at least six defamation claims since 2019 against critics…

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 4 July 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

Law and Media Round Up – 30 June 2025 California Governor Gavin Newsom has filed a $787 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News, accusing the network and host Jesse Watters of knowingly spreading false claims about a phone call he had with Donald Trump amid recent Los Angeles protests.

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 27 June 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

The Tattle Life Unmasking: How do you bring a ‘day of reckoning’ to the door of anonymous trolls? – Persephone Bridgman Baker and Michael Walker Nestled within a corner of the internet, a new website was created in 2017. It was to be similar to a celebrity forum, but with one key difference.…

Law and Media Round Up – 23 June 2025 The previously anonymous operator of an online gossip forum has been unmasked after losing a defamation case. Sebastian Bond, also known as Bastian Durward, has been confirmed as the man behind Tattle Life after an Irish couple successfully sued the publisher.

Event: Making Public Allegations: Media Law in its Social Context – Nicole Moreham and Jeevan Hariharan From the BBC’s coverage of a police raid at Cliff Richard’s house to revelations of serious sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein and Mohamed Al-Fayed, public allegations of…

Law and Media Round Up 15 June 2025 Parliament has passed the proposed Data (Use and Access) Bill, which reforms the existing UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. The passage, which now only needs Royal Assent, follows a month-long…

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 14 June 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

Case Law: Ahmadi v Guardian News and Media, High Court confirms that an allegation of homosexuality is not defamatory – Kate Cross The case of Safiullah Ahmadi v Guardian News & Media Limited  EWHC 1191 (KB) is the first modern authority in England and Wales to consider whether it is defamatory at…

Law and Media Round Up – 9 June 2025 Sir Elton John used his Creators’ Champion Award speech to plead with the UK Government to “do the right thing” by strengthening copyright protections when artificial intelligence (AI) models learn from creatives’ content. Sir Elton is among hundreds of…

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University: Newsletter, 8 June 2025 Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world.  It maintains an…

Bridgen v Hancock Twibel case: the story so far – Max Campbell On 11 January 2023, Andrew Bridgen, who was then a Conservative MP, tweeted a link to an article suggesting a connection between COVID vaccination and serious adverse health conditions, commenting: ‘As one consultant cardiologist said…