Take 10 #5
Welcome to RPC's media and communications law update. This issue reports on key media developments and the latest cases.
News items
Trump dossier
Warby J has today dismissed the entirety of the Claimants' claims for defamation in Gubarev & Webzilla Ltd v Orbis Intelligence & Christopher Steele following the trial in July this year. Read more
Sussex
Warby J yesterday ruled that the trial of Meghan Markle's action against ANL be adjourned from 11 January 2021 to the autumn of 2021. Read more
ICO's enforcement of data protection law
The ICO has published draft guidance on how it intends to enforce data protection legislation in the UK. Read more
Data Subject Access Requests
A busy month for the ICO: the regulator has also published detailed new guidance on DSARs which aims to help organisations deal with DSARs effectively and efficiently. Read more
Facebook: content regulation
The Facebook Oversight Board started accepting cases for review last week. The Board has the power to overrule decisions made by Facebook relating to the removal of user's content, and can recommend policy changes. Read more
Chatter
Depp water
Following the 16-day trial over the summer, which caught a couple of headlines, Nicol J will hand down judgment in Johnny Depp v News Group Newspapers on 2 November 2020. Read more
Privacy in arrests
The trial in Alaedeen Sicri v ANL is due to start on 2 November. Mr Sicri is alleging misuse of his private information in respect of a MailOnline article published on 29 May 2017 which reported that he had been arrested on suspicion of terrorism-related offences in connection with the Manchester Arena bombings. Read more
Invisible data processing
The ICO has taken enforcement action against Experian regarding its data broking business after a two year investigation which found the company had engaged in significant "invisible processing" of data by trading, enriching and enhancing people’s personal data without their knowledge. Read more
Criminal investigation into journalist
The Met Police have dropped their investigation into right-wing journalist Darren Grimes in relation to comments relating to slavery made by historian David Starkey during an interview between the two. Read more
Legal aid used to gag press
A convicted money launderer who had applied for a privacy injunction against a Northern Irish daily newspaper to stop them reporting on her crimes dropped her case at the RCJ at the last minute. Read more
The less dark side?
A hacking group called the Darkside, which claims to have extorted millions of dollars through ransomware, has posted receipts showing $10,000 in Bitcoin donations to two charities on the dark web. Read more
Quote of the fortnight:
“…the fact that it was allowed to reach this point, the fact that a precedent has been set that says that a broadcaster or journalist can face police arrest and a maximum of seven years prison time for interviewing a controversial guest is truly chilling indeed.” – Darren Grimes, journalist investigated in respect of a potential s22 Public Order Act offence