Sign the petition for libel reform in Northern Ireland

Also on the Libel Reform Campaign website here.

Legal Innovator of the Year Award 2014 - Joanne Wheeler

Libel Reform Campaign Northern Ireland (EVENT) - I'll see you in court: ten people silenced by our libel laws

This event is happening on December 12 2014. A Friday evening at the Crescent Arts Centre. It starts at 6.30pm and will finish at 8pm. The event is part of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival, and is billed as follows:

"Free speech isn't free in Northern Ireland. Thanks to the unreformed law of libel, speaking out in the public interest can land you in court. Join Simon Singh and the Libel Reform Campaign at the Crescent Arts Centre to hear first hand the ten discussions the people of Northern Ireland cannot hear due to the archaic state of the law of libel. While the law in England & Wales was reformed in January this year, in Northern Ireland reform was blocked for reasons that remain unclear, even though the law had been severely criticised by the UN Human Rights Committee. 

In Northern Ireland, under the old unreformed law, the chill on free speech continues. From scientists sued for casting doubt on dubious treatments, to tennis players, oligarchs and quack vitamin pill salesmen who have sued, the Libel Reform Campaign will show you what you are not allowed to hear or read. Science writer Simon Singh will introduce this high-energy event with speeches from writers, journalists, victims of the law and campaigners."

William Crawley - The Twitter block function is an evolution of thought.

@williamcrawley: The best thing about blocking people is that your timeline and Facebook discussions improve with each deletion. An evolution of thought.

Neil Oliver - "The twitter block function is a truly liberating act. It's like having a light sabre."

@NEIL_OLIVER_: @almurray I've said it before and I'll say it again, the twitter block function is a truly liberating act. It's like having a light sabre.

ECJ - Google link-removing ruling

The European Court Justice has said that Google must respect the 'right to be forgotten.' From here onwards, an internet search engine operator is responsible for the processing of personal data appearing in its results. 

David Aaronovitch wrote:

"There is already such a commercial process known as “search engine optimisation”. Now now we will add “search engine sanitation”. Someone with a little dosh will employ a legal specialist, a “sanitiser” to contest the material that is a bit, well you know."

In full: David Aaronovitch (@DAaronovitch) - Free speech must trump the right to privacy http://t.co/qtMTWI40pO

Matthew Holehouse (@mattholehouse) wrote,'Look who's demanding Google forgets them: criminals, MPs and dodgy doctors.'

http://t.co/4HpkgPrldz

Full judgement here: http://t.co/B0sMPu5pGA

US Report - Findings of the Big Data and Privacy Working Group Review

In January 2014 President Barack Obama announced reforms to intelligence community practices following the leaks by Edward Snowden. John Podesta, a counsellor to the US president, authored the report. It calls on America to lead a global discussion on the subject of state surveillance, and the proper balance between security and privacy. John Podesta said:

"In January, President Obama asked me to lead a wide-ranging review of "big data" and privacy—to explore how these technologies are changing our economy, our government, and our society, and to consider their implications for our personal privacy... our review sought to understand what is genuinely new and different about big data and to consider how best to encourage the potential of these technologies while minimizing risks to privacy and core American values.

Over the course of 90 days, we met with academic researchers and privacy advocates, with regulators and the technology industry, with advertisers and civil rights groups. The President's Council of Advisors for Science and Technology conducted a parallel study of the technological trends underpinning big data. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy jointly organized three university conferences at MIT, NYU, and U.C. Berkeley. We issued a formal Request for Information seeking public comment, and hosted a survey to generate even more public input.

Today, we presented our findings to the President. We knew better than to try to answer every question about big data in three months. But we are able to draw important conclusions and make concrete recommendations for Administration attention and policy development in a few key areas."

He then said:

"The big data revolution presents incredible opportunities in virtually every sector of the economy and every corner of society.

Big data is saving lives... Big data is making the economy work better... Big data is making government work better and saving taxpayer dollars... But big data raises serious questions, too, about how we protect our privacy and other values in a world where data collection is increasingly ubiquitous and where analysis is conducted at speeds approaching real time. In particular, our review raised the question of whether the "notice and consent" framework, in which a user grants permission for a service to collect and use information about them, still allows us to meaningfully control our privacy as data about us is increasingly used and reused in ways that could not have been anticipated when it was collected.

Big data raises other concerns, as well. One significant finding of our review was the potential for big data analytics to lead to discriminatory outcomes and to circumvent longstanding civil rights protections in housing, employment, credit, and the consumer marketplace."

And so:

"No matter how quickly technology advances, it remains within our power to ensure that we both encourage innovation and protect our values through law, policy, and the practices we encourage in the public and private sector."

The report made six actionable policy recommendations to the President:

"1. Advance the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. 

2. Pass National Data Breach Legislation. 

3. Extend Privacy Protections to non-U.S. Persons. Privacy is a worldwide value that should be reflected in how the federal government handles personally identifiable information about non-U.S. citizens. The Office of Management and Budget should work with departments and agencies to apply the Privacy Act of 1974 to non-U.S. persons where practicable, or to establish alternative privacy policies that apply appropriate and meaningful protections to personal information regardless of a person's nationality.

4. Ensure Data Collected on Students in School is used for Educational Purposes.

5. Expand Technical Expertise to Stop Discrimination. 

6. Amend the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The laws that govern protections afforded to our communications were written before email, the internet, and cloud computing came into wide use. Congress should amend ECPA to ensure the standard of protection for online, digital content is consistent with that afforded in the physical world—including by removing archaic distinctions between email left unread or over a certain age."

John Podesta also said:

"Big data unquestionably increases the potential of government power to accrue un-checked."

http://m.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/05/01/findings-big-data-and-privacy-working-group-review

The Twitter libel problem unrolling before your eyes

Niamh Hargan - Media Law and Practice at University of Ulster Explained

[Niamh Hargan, a recently qualified solicitor took part in the new curriculum, Media Law and Practice, at the University of Ulster. A joint venture between the University of Ulster and SmithDehn LLP. She shares her experience of the course:]


As recently reported on Media Law Northern Ireland and elsewhere, this month has seen yet more exciting news for our burgeoning local film and television industry.

At a launch party on April 26th, international media and entertainment law firm SmithDehn LLP, together with production company Social Construct Media, announced the intention to establish their key European base in Derry later this year.

Already, though, these innovative twin companies have been making an impact: for the past twelve weeks, they have been teaching a pilot course in Media Law and Practice at the University of Ulster’s Magee campus, with partner and CEO Russell Smith at the helm. Among the 30 students, of which I was one, several had a background in legal studies and/or practice, whilst others brought hands-on

SmithDehn and Social Construct launch in Derry

Eugene McNamee (@EugeneMcNamee), head of UU School of Law, Zak Kilberg (@SocialConstruct) of Social Construct and Russell Smith (@rsmith8) of Smith Dehn speaking at the joint launch fo SmithDehn LLP and Social Construct in Derry.

 

We were in attendance and had a great time. Big things are happening in Derry, Northern Ireland and Ireland. These are exciting times to be a forward thinking lawyer.

 

Irish News report here.BBC report here. The Lawyer reports here. Derry Daily reports here. SyncNI here. Our previous report from January 7 on the media law curriculum being taught in Derry, and the talk about SmithDehn coming to the second city here.

Hugh Tomlinson QC - Privacy and Defamation, Strasbourg blurs the boundaries

It is now clearly established in the case law of the Court of Human Rights that Article 8 protects the “right to reputation” as an aspect of private life. This is a relatively new idea, first appearing the case law as recently as 2004 (see Chauvy v France [70]).

The development was a controversial one because “reputation” was deliberately left out of Article 8 when the Convention was drafted (see our posts by Heather Rogers QC “Is there a right to reputation?“, Part 1 and Part 2). Nevertheless, the case law in both Strasbourg and the domestic courts is clear and consistent and is not likely to be reversed.

Dealing with reputation as a Convention Right: the first nine years

The recognition of reputation as a Convention right means that, when it considers defamation cases, the Court needs to balance freedom of expression and reputation from a starting point that neither takes precedence. This is a similar exercise to that carried out in privacy cases and there is a clear risk of the boundary between privacy and defamation becoming blurred (see generally, “Strasbourg on Privacy and Reputation”, Parts 1, 2 and 3).

Introducing News Sniffer (@news_sniffer)

Hello World! http://t.co/7zkQ3zsG
— News Sniffer (@news_sniffer) March 30, 2012

Yesterday we introduced Irishnewsdiffs.com, today it's News Sniffer. A tool and tracker that does the same job but for the banner online newspapers.

We're now monitoring selected feeds from The @Independent and The @washingtonpost http://t.co/3jJUWOO0qt
— News Sniffer (@news_sniffer) February 12, 2014

News Sniffer now tracks changes to The New York Times articles: http://t.co/xoTngQTL #nytimes
— News Sniffer (@news_sniffer) August 28, 2012

Added Guardian's Comment is Free article feed. Support for the New York Times is in the pipes too. http://t.co/7zkLvZjw
— News Sniffer (@news_sniffer) August 22, 2012

Introducing irishnewsdiffs.com (@IrishNewsDiffs)

http://t.co/hAYmpcvhWS is now live. Tracking changes to http://t.co/l0k311Hu63 and http://t.co/OtrZXcgasw << I see this becoming invaluable.
— TJ McIntyre (@tjmcintyre) April 7, 2014

@tjmcintyre @Tupp_Ed To highlight differences in coverage? Can you explain? I think I have a case of Monday brain.
— Bernard Tyers (@bernardtyers) April 14, 2014

@bernardtyers Hopefully it will show up the effect of defamation threats. Also, other changes in response to pressure.
— TJ McIntyre (@tjmcintyre) April 14, 2014

Further explanation here:

"Irish NewsDiffs archives changes in articles after publication. Currently, we track rte.ie, and irishtimes.com. 

NewsDiffs, which was born out of the Knight Mozilla MIT hackathon in June 2012, is trying to solve the problem of archiving news in the constantly evolving world of online journalism.

The original NewsDiffs is at newsdiffs.org

This version was launched in April 2014 to track changes to Irish news websites.

Event - Launch of the Libel Reform Campaign Northern Ireland

The Libel Reform Campaign present a petition with 60,000 signatures to Downing Street in 2012

The immensely successful Libel Reform Campaign is coming to Belfast and Northern Ireland (sign up here):

"On Wednesday 7 May at 10am the Libel Reform Campaign will be bringing together writers, journalists, scientists, academics, human rights advocates and civil society to form a coalition to bring reform of the law of libel to Northern Ireland. 

With the launch of the Northern Ireland Law Commission consultation on libel reform expected in the coming months, a strong coalition will be needed that makes the case for reform of these archaic laws. You can read the campaign's criticisms of the law and the process that led to the new Defamation Act not being applied to Northern Ireland here and here. 

We would very much appreciate your participation in this coalition and your attendance at this event to bring together the coalition. I will be joined by Jo Glanville from English PEN, Sile Lane from Sense About Science and other Libel Reform campaigners. 

The event will be hosted in The Lab at the Belfast MAC (10 Exchange Street West, Belfast BT1 2NJ) from 10am - 12.30pm on 7 May. Plenty of coffee and pastries will be provided."

Sign up and register your attendance here.

ECJ strikes down Data Retention Directive

[PREFACE - United States]

On December 16 2013 the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia Judge Richard Leon ruled that NSA spying was likely to be unconstitutional. He called it "almost Orwellian".

On December 28 2013 in ACLU v. James Clapper, US District Judge William Pauley diverged from a ruling by Judge Richard Leon that questioned the NSA's constitutionality. He called it a counter-punch to terrorism. He raising the prospect that the Supreme Court will need to resolve the issue.


Europe

Europe has struck down the Data Retention Directive (Directive 2006/24/EC). A European law, made in 2006, that required telecommunications firms to collect and store data (locations, calls, texts and emails.) for at least six months and up to two years. Europe's highest court, the ECJ, heard the case after requests from Irish and Austrian courts.

The ECJ declared the law "invalid" and in contravention of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The law violated two basic rights:

One, respect for private life.

Two, protection of personal data.

The trouble with conflict journalism

@BBCnireland @SpotlightNI conflict journalism at its worst and so juxtaposed to state visit, playing into hands of the bigots? How's that?
— Prof John D Brewer (@Prof_johnbrewer) April 8, 2014

The State Visit of Michael D. Higgins to England and the banquet coincided with a BBC broadcast on alleged IRA gunrunner "Spike" Murray. This caused quite a stir on Twitter. This shows how conflict journalism remains controversial and divided. Some taking a censorial stance. Others more frontal. It shows how some stories could be hidden by fear of causing instability.

.@Prof_johnbrewer @SpotlightNI Are you saying, professor, that you would prefer the BBC not to make politically-sensitive revelations?
— Sam McBride (@SJAMcBride) April 8, 2014

.@Prof_johnbrewer @SpotlightNI You sound nostalgic for the 'responsible' BBC of the 1920s when controversial issues couldn't be reported
— Sam McBride (@SJAMcBride) April 9, 2014

Jaw-droppingly disgraceful tweets from QUB academic @Prof_johnbrewer re: last night's Spotlight. Unbelievable.
— Newton Emerson (@NewtonEmerson) April 9, 2014

New Scholarship supported by Sky and the Royal Television Society Northern Ireland

Sky with support of the Royal Television Society NI launches TV scholarship in partnership with National Film School at the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT)

Sky have announced details of a new Sky Academy TV Scholarship to be made available on the Masters (MA) in Broadcast Production course offered by The National Film School at the Dun Laoghaire IADT from September. The scholarship is part of Sky Academy, a set of initiatives which aim to use the power of television, creativity and sport to give up to one million young people in the UK and Ireland opportunities to build skills, experience and self-belief. The scholarship will be offered by Sky, supported by The Royal Television Society (RTS), to individuals who may not otherwise have the financial means to support themselves through further study, or may not have considered a career in the media for financial reasons. It is part of Sky's commitment to support and encourage emerging talent at grassroots level.

Paul Tweed to launch JAMS Ireland

Martin McGuinness with Taoiseach Enda Kenny and PM David Cameron

Former IRA commander Martin McGuinness attended the State Banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth. The Irish Times wrote:

"Had you asked anyone of a certain generation in Northern Ireland if they could ever see the Queen of England and Martin McGuiinness sitting down to have dinner you'd have been told to 'Get Your  Head Seen.'

On this occassion, Paul Tweed (@Paul_Tweed) has announced his intention to launch JAMS Ireland, specialising in finding solutions for political and diplomatic disputes within Ireland and across the globe. The Company will have facilities in Belfast and Dublin and will bring together a panel of experts including Brian Mawhinney (former Northern Ireland Minister) and Paul O'Higgins SC (Chairman - Irish Bar Council).

Mike Gilson and Mike Nesbitt give evidence before the Finance Committee

Video of Mike Gilson here. Video of Mike Nesbitt here (2hr7m). Text of Mike Gilson here and text of Mike Nesbitt here.

Intimidating and criminalising journalism

Glenn Greenwald with his partner who was detained in Heathrow under the Terrorism Act

[Earlier post by Brian Spencer on criminalising journalism in the US here]


In 2003 the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) raiding the house of  two well known journalists, Liam Clarke (@LIAMCLARKECJ) and Kathryn Johnston (@kathrynjohnston). The police removed 21 bagfuls of the computers and material and detained the two journalists for 23 hours. Police searched their home and battered down the door of their office.