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.

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.

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 third party disclosure procedure under CPR 31.17. But what if there was a third, even better alternative?

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 undermining their human rights and permitting the press to persist in promulgating any falsities favoured by editorial agendas. This aberrant judicial law-making was justified by the most monumental intellectual dishonesty.

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 complaints within 90 days, the percentage of cases where such an outcome has not been achieved has ballooned from 15.2% in 2023/ 24 to 70% in 2024/25 (a 360% increase).

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 MPs who argued that the Government was not doing enough to combat Russian interference in UK elections.

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.

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 administration of having “trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms.”

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) “take care not to publish inaccurate or misleading material” and inform us when it errs.

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.

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.

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 Doomed” and “Don’t Pray for the USA.”

‘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 the information’. In South Africa we should call it The Spear effect after Brett Murray's controversial work of art.

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 provided ammunition for those intent on pushing this agenda.

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

Michaelmas term began on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 and will continue until Friday 19 December 2025.