Social media faces big changes under new Ofcom rules – BBC News

Posted October 17th, 2024 in children, internet, news, ombudsmen, telecommunications by sally

‘Social media companies will face punishments for failing to keep children safe on their platforms, communications watchdog Ofcom has warned.’

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BBC News, 17th October 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

ICO reprimands law firm after client data ends up on dark web – Legal Futures

Posted October 15th, 2024 in confidentiality, data protection, internet, law firms, news, privacy, solicitors by tracey

‘A law firm that was hacked and had sensitive client data published on the dark web has been reprimanded by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).’

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Legal Futures, 14th October 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Online predator who used fake profiles to talk to children jailed – Crown Prosecution Service

‘A man who used fake online profiles to talk to children and request indecent images from them has been jailed today.’

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Crown Prosecution Service, 14th October 2024

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Fight begins to make mobile-free schools law – BBC News

Posted October 15th, 2024 in bills, education, internet, news, school children, telecommunications by tracey

‘Calls are growing to ban smartphones in schools in England by law, as education experts and unions back an MP’s attempt to push a new law through Parliament.’

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BBC News, 15th October 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Deceased solicitor’s partner told to delete posts attacking executors – Legal Futures

‘The High Court has ordered the partner of a leading Birmingham solicitor, who died at the end of last year, to remove social media posts accusing his executors, one of whom is a director of his law firm, of misconduct.’

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Legal Futures, 7th October 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Andrii Koshman: Judicial Accountability in the Digital Justice System of Tomorrow – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘In 2018, Sir Ernest Ryder warned that the future shift to online dispute resolution for most, and in some areas all disputes, risks eroding judicial accountability and fostering a democratic deficit. The pandemic, the £1.3 billion court modernisation program and six years later, the future of resolving the majority of disputes online appears to be much closer. The implementation of a truly holistic Digital Justice System – an integrated system of online advice services, online public and private out-of-court dispute resolution services (mediation and arbitration portals, ombuds services) and online courts – can make this future a reality. In fact, it is expressly intended that the majority of civil, family, and tribunal disputes will be settled or resolved online through the Digital Justice System, in accordance with rules specifically developed by the Online Procedure Rule Committee (OPRC) to cover the online pre-action and action space. It is also notable that such a system of various online private and public portals will have a common data architecture based on the open digital standards developed by OPRC. It is not yet known when this system will become operational, but as we approach such a reality, the potential loss of accountability and democratic deficit needs to be addressed as an extremely urgent threat.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 3rd October 2024

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Firefighter caught paying young girls to send him naked photographs – The Independent

‘A former firefighter who paid children to send him naked pictures and sent an image of himself wearing his uniform to one victim has been jailed.’

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The Independent, 30th September 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Fewer complaints about barristers’ use of social media – Legal Futures

The number of reports to the Bar Standards Board (BSB) about barristers’ use of social media has unexpectedly fallen but an increasing proportion relate to “controversial social and political issues”.

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Legal Futures, 30th September 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Dark patterns – Mills & Reeve

‘The ASA has banned Nike and Sky adverts, on the basis they use so called “dark patterns”. Dark patterns are a range of techniques which cross the line from legitimate advertising techniques to ones which unlawfully nudge consumers into making choices not in their best interests. These decisions come as the ASA joins the CMA in undertaking wider proactive investigations into online choice architecture that amount to unlawful dark patterns.’

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Mills & Reeve, 27th September 2024

Source: www.mills-reeve.com

ASA bans adverts for Nike and Sky for using ‘dark pattern’ tactics – The Guardian

Posted September 25th, 2024 in advertising, internet, news, ombudsmen by sally

‘Adverts for Nike and Sky have been banned by the regulator for using “dark pattern” tactics designed to lead consumers to unintentionally spend money.’

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The Guardian, 25th September 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Man jailed for Telegram race hate posts amid riots – BBC News

‘A man who used a fake name to send “vile” racist messages on a messaging app with thousands of members to provoke violence has been jailed for two years and four months.’

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BBC News, 18th September 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

National Archives to expand judgment publications service – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted September 12th, 2024 in archives, internet, judgments, news by tracey

‘With up to 50,000 page views a month, the Find Case Law judgment publishing service has grown rapidly since its 2022 launch. Digital director John Sheridan now plans to expand coverage and tackle the challenges of data analysis by AI.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 11th September 2024

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

No fixed charge over IP addresses – Mills & Reeve

Posted August 14th, 2024 in chambers articles, company law, insolvency, internet, news by sally

‘Having considered the circumstances relating to, and the security granted over, various IP addresses (the “addresses”), the Court held that the security granted over the addresses, was floating charge, rather than fixed charge, security and ordered accordingly.’

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Mills & Reeve, 13th August 2024

Source: www.mills-reeve.com

Are the authorities powerless to stop Tommy Robinson’s online output? – The Guardian

Posted August 6th, 2024 in internet, media, news, prosecutions, public order by tracey

‘New laws may make it easier to pursue far-right activist over alleged role in spreading disinformation.’

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The Guardian, 6th August 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

AI will have bigger impact on law than the internet, says thinktank – Legal Futures

‘Artificial intelligence (AI) will have a greater impact on legal services than the internet revolution, a roundtable sponsored by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has predicted.’

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Legal Futures, 5th August 2024

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Gambling Control in a Cost-of-Living Crisis: An Analysis of the White Paper High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age (2023) – Modern Law Review

Posted July 26th, 2024 in gambling, internet, news by sally

‘This article explains the broader stakes of contemporary British gambling reform debates, via an analysis of the White Paper High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age (2023). I lay out the context to the White Paper, and I summarise its main proposals, focusing especially on efforts to reduce the harms caused by gambling. I also offer a critical analysis of one particularly significant and contentious proposed reform: mandated affordability checks for online gambling, when losses reach certain thresholds. I suggest that these checks reflect and deepen a shared regulatory, industry, and academic faith in online gambling technologies to resolve social responsibility problems, with wider implications for consumer surveillance and public health.’

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Modern Law Review, 2nd July 2024

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Couple who had sex in front of child in online chatroom jailed – The Independent

Posted July 25th, 2024 in child abuse, internet, news, sentencing, sexual offences by sally

‘A young couple have been jailed for using an online chatroom to “trade” having sex in return for watching a child being abused.’

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The Independent, 24th July 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

State threat law watchdog calls for greater transparency from tech giants – The Independent

Posted July 24th, 2024 in internet, news, ombudsmen by sally

‘Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, should be forced to be more transparent about whether foreign powers are behind posts on their platforms, a watchdog has said.’

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The Independent, 23rd July 2024

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Trader recommendation websites must vet firms, says watchdog – The Guardian

Posted July 11th, 2024 in advertising, complaints, internet, news, trading standards, vetting by sally

‘Popular trader recommendation websites must vet the firms they advertise and tackle fake reviews under new rules designed to protect households from cowboy builders and tradespeople.’

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The Guardian, 11th July 2024

Source: www.theguardian.com

Tackling the regulation of sexually explicit deepfakes – Kingsley Napley Criminal Law Blog

‘Artificial intelligence, and its use on social media, is making it continuously harder to distinguish between real and fake information online. Although fact checking is often required when considering written or spoken words, with the advent of so-called “deepfakes”, we now also need to fact check some of the images or videos we see online.’

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Kingsley Napley Criminal Law Blog, 25th June 2024

Source: www.kingsleynapley.co.uk