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The Court of Appeal has ordered that damages of EUR 140,000 awarded in the High Court against the broadcaster TV3 for defaming a lawyer in a news report be reduced to EUR 36,000 (for High Court judgment, see IRIS 2016-1/18). This was the first time the Court of Appeal considered the “Offer to make amends” provision under the Defamation Act 2009. In November 2013, lawyer David Christie was defamed by commercial broadcaster TV3 in a news bulletin reporting a court case which incorrectly identified him as his client, who he was representing in a criminal trial. Two days after the broadcast, Christie...

On 26 April 2017, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) delivered a decision on the fairness and impartiality rules applicable to documentaries under the Broadcasting Act 2009, and the BAI Code on Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality in News and Current Affairs. The decision concerned a documentary broadcast on the RTÉ One television channel in July 2016 entitled “Peacekeepers: The Irish in South Lebanon”. It detailed the experience of the Irish Defence Forces operating in South Lebanon during the 1970s until the present. A complaint was submitted under section 48(1)(a) of the Broadcasting...

On 11 April 2017, the High Court delivered a judgment in Gallagher v. RTÉ, concerning a presidential candidate’s legal action against the public broadcaster RTÉ over a 2011 televised election debate. The claim centred on RTÉ’s 2011 election debate, when the presenter had questioned the candidate about a statement concerning him that had just been made on the supposed official Twitter account of another candidate. It later turned out that the tweet had been attributed, in error, to the official Twitter account of the other candidate. In March 2012, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) held...

On 28 March 2017, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) launched its new General Commercial Communications Code. It replaces the previous code introduced in 2010 under section 42 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 (see IRIS 2011-7/29). The new code follows a public consultation held in 2016 on the draft code (see IRIS 2016-8/23). The new code is divided into 22 sections and sets out the general rules and principles, definitions, and requirements regarding particular products and services on both radio and television. However, the code does not cover services provided over the Internet, nor does...

On 8 February 2017, the High Court refused an application for an order against Facebook Ireland Ltd to identify an anonymous source for defamatory postings on their platforms on the basis that the right to a person’s good name must give way to the right to life and bodily integrity of another in the event of a conflict. In a previous decision in 2016, Justice Binchy had refused the plaintiff, Mr Fred Muwema, certain orders which would have had the effect of requiring Facebook to take down certain defamatory postings concerning him which were posted by a pseudonymous source:“Tom Voltaire Okwalinga”...