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A guest (Jeremy Irons) on a morning programme on BBC Radio 2, in telling an anecdote, used the word “fuck”. The presenter immediately said, “You can’t say that”, apologised to listeners, and asked Irons to apologise too - which he did. The presenter then reminded other guests not to use offensive language. Ofcom received one complaint about the use of the word at that time of day. Ofcom decided to mount an investigation on the basis of issues raised under Section 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code: “In applying generally accepted standards broadcasters must ensure that material which may cause offence...

The case of PJS v. News Group Newspapers Ltd concerns the attempts of a high profile couple to prevent the publication of a story relating to sexual encounters that one of the couple, identified only as “PJS”, had had some time ago. On 22 January 2016, the Court of Appeal, pending the main trial, granted an interim injunction; it was generally accepted that this was properly granted. The dispute concerned whether the injunction should be dismissed since details of the story had been published in the media outside England and Wales, and also on various websites and social media. The English press...

On 4 May 2016, Ofcom, the UK broadcasting regulator, published a statement announcing changes to rules in Section Three of the Broadcasting Code and the accompanying guidance, made to “ensure they are as clear as possible for broadcasters”. Thus, the version of the Code, in force as of 9 May 2016, becomes the latest version of the Code, and applies to all programmes broadcast on or after that date. Earlier programmes are covered by the Code in force on the date of broadcast. Section Three pertains to material that is “likely to incite crime or disorder” and material containing “hatred, abusive...

The Supreme Court in MGN Limited v Gulati and others on 22 March 2016 upheld the High Court decision of Mr Justice Mann in respect of assessing damages payable to claimants who had been victim of invasion of privacy, including telephone hacking by some staff of the Daily Mirror newspaper, owned by Mirror Group Newspapers Limited (MGN) (see IRIS 2015-7/18). MGN had appealed to the Court of Appeal, contending that the damages awarded by Mr Justice Mann were excessive. The Court of Appeal’s judgment, dated 17 December 2015, dismissed MGN’s appeal on all grounds (see IRIS 2016-3/17). The Court of Appeal...

On 13 April 2016, Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, issued a Statement concerning e-cigarettes. It specifies amendments which Ofcom is making to the Broadcast Code and also the amendments which it has instructed the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice to make to the BCAP Code: the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising. BCAP had introduced rules on the marketing of e-cigarettes in 2014 (see IRIS 2015-1/23). The changes were ordered by the UK Secretary for Health under section 321(6) of the Communications Act 2003. The amendments arise from the UK’s implementation of the EU Tobacco Products...