The UK Government’s recent introduction of an Online Safety Bill has raised afresh the important question of the extent to which online intermediaries can and should be required to curate and police the content that they host or index online. The Bill itself is controversial. Not least there are serious questions as to whether, as currently framed, it will: (a) require intermediaries to meet excessively burdensome standards (b) subject Ofcom (the proposed regulator in respect of the relevant online safety duties) to regulatory obligations which are themselves Augean in nature and further (c) fundamentally undermine the free speech rights which the Bill itself recognises are foundational to a modern digital democracy. In other words, there is a serious question as to whether this is a Bill that will do more harm than good. It is against that backdrop that we should turn to consider the recent judgment of the CJEU in the case of Peterson v Google LLC C-682/18 and C-683/18. The Peterson case is a copyright case, and so its relevance to the readers of this blog is not immediately discernible. However, it is a case worth considering particularly in view of what it says about the protections afforded to online intermediaries, and particularly hosting platforms, by the E-Commerce Directive. Continue reading →

We are very pleased to announce that we have been nominated for the following awards:

Media, Defamation, Privacy and Data Protection Set of the Year

Media, Defamation, Privacy and Data Protection Silk of the Year – Anya Proops QC

Employment Junior of the Year – Judy Stone

Human Rights and Public Law Set of the Year

Human Rights and Public Law Silk of the Year – Jason Coppel QC

Human Rights and Public Law Junior of the Year – Christopher Knight

Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 18 November at Old Billingsgate, London.

Hot off the press: the Government has announced that John Edwards, currently New Zealand’s Privacy Commissioner, is its preferred candidate to take over from Elizabeth Denham as Information Commissioner later on this year – see here. Mr Edwards will now appear before MPs on the DCMS select committee for pre-appointment scrutiny on 9 September. Following the scrutiny process, a recommendation will be made to the Queen by the Secretary of State for DCMS, acting through the Prime Minister. Elizabeth Denham has issued a statement in which she warmly supports Mr Edwards appointment, saying he ‘would bring extraordinary breadth, leadership and credibility to this role’ – see here.

Anya Proops QC

The High Court (Saini J) has today handed down judgment in Warren v DSG Retail Ltd [2021] EWHC 2168 (QB) (available here: Warren v DSG judgment). It is pithy and important stuff for data protection litigation, especially as regards accidental data breaches and the recoverability of ATE premiums. Continue reading →

The new date for the Data litigation & regulation – how do the UK and US compare? webinar is 13 September 2021 at 3pm.

If you were registered for the original date, 28 June 2021. You will automatically still be registered and will receive an email from Zoom with the update.

If you weren’t previously registered and would like to, please email RSVP@11kbw.com

Our Data Litigation & Regulation – How do the UK and US compare? webinar due to start at 3pm this afternoon has been POSTPONED. A new date will be confirmed as soon as possible. Sorry for any inconvenience is caused.