Ofcom has issued its first major fine under the Online Safety Act 2023. The AVS Group Ltd – which runs 18 adult websites – has been fined £1 million for not having robust age checks in place, plus £50,000 for failing to respond to information requests. The regulator has also reported on how the online safety landscape is changing…

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 extensive database of international case law. This is its newsletter dealing with recent developments  in the field.

On 22 October 2025, ICC Judge Burton handed down judgment In the matter of Siobhain Crosbie  EWHC 2917 (Ch).  The Petitioning Creditor, Caroline Ley, had presented a bankruptcy petition against Ms Crosbie for £237,753.78 arising from an unpaid, post-trial, High Court Judgment debt and costs order in libel and harassment.

Two teenagers are taking the federal government to the High Court. They argue the ban on social media accounts for under-16s is unconstitutional because it interferes with free political communication.  The ban is due to take effect on December 10.  Will the High Court challenge make any difference?

Recently, I have been reminded of a quote: "You can become so single-minded in the defence of your own principles that you forget to follow them". I first heard those words spoken by Joe Turner, a (fictional) CIA agent, describing treachery amongst his bosses.

On Tuesday, 25 November 2025, the Home Secretary and Home Office issued a full apology to Muslim community leader Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin before Hill J in the High Court and paid his costs and £225,000 in damages for wrongly alleging that he had taken part in war crimes during Bangladesh’s war of independence.

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 extensive database of international case law. This is its newsletter dealing with recent developments  in the field.

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 extensive database of international case law. This is its newsletter dealing with recent developments  in the field.

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 extensive database of international case law. This is its newsletter dealing with recent developments  in the field.

Canadian politicians have increasingly taken to social media to campaign as well as communicate with constituents, sharing updates on policies, local events, emergencies or government initiatives. But stories have emerged of constituents being blocked by their representatives. Should Canadian politicians be free to block their own constituents?

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 this, the response of the organisation was to downplay the problem.

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 and newspapers alike.

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.

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 courts soon.​ Proceedings are emerging in other jurisdictions in the US (see Part I) and in Australia.

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.

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 resignation of two BBC executives, and Trump’s threat to sue the BBC for $1 billion if they do not retract the episode.

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. In the UK such claims must be commenced within one year of publication; Florida allows two.

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 compensation, arguing there is no basis for a defamation claim. Trump insists the edit “cheated” him, though no claim has yet been filed.

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 extensive database of international case law. This is its newsletter dealing with recent developments  in the field.

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.

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 regulation by a government backed body body with only 3% saying it should be carried out by a group run by the news industry.

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.

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) from 15:30–19:00 (followed by networking drinks). The event, titled “Politicians and the Press”, will bring together senior media lawyers and politicians to probe the fraught relationship between politicians and the news media.

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 Steve Coogan and two production company who made the 2022 film, ‘The Lost King’ about the search to find Richard III’s remains, centering the role of Phillipa Langley.

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 the ECHR has been widespread in recent years, and particularly in relation to how it applies to immigration control.