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On 21 December 2016, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) held that a prank call made by a broadcaster to a state agency employee violated Principle 7 of the BAI Code of Programme Standards on respect for privacy. The programme concerned was the Nick Richards Show, which is a music-driven show broadcast on weekday mornings. During a July 2016 broadcast, a prank call was made to an employee of the State Examinations Commission (SEC) by a member of the show, as part of a pre-recorded daily comedy spot featuring prank calls. The call usually ends with the presenter revealing the prank nature...

On 21 December 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a judgment in joined cases Tele2 Sverige AB v. Post-och telestyrelsen and Secretary of State for the Home Department v. Tom Watson and Others (Cases C-203/15 and C-698/15). This judgment concerns the interpretation of Article 15(1) of the e-Privacy Directive (2002/58/EC) (see IRIS 2002-7/10) in light of Articles 7 (respect for private life) and 8 (protection of personal data) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the Charter). The judgment addresses two requests for a preliminary ruling from the...

In summary proceedings on 10 November 2016, the District Court of Amsterdam rejected a request to prohibit the Dutch broadcasting association BNN-VARA broadcasting an episode of “Rambam” containing hidden-camera footage from undercover journalists. As stated on its website, the plaintiff “Dokteronline.com” is an online doctor service that informs consumers about health, symptoms and treatments, and facilitates contact with medical specialists and/or pharmacies. Rambam is a Dutch television programme, broadcasted by BNN-VARA, that investigates consumer issues by means of undercover journalism. During...

On 28 October 2016, the English High Court held that the comments made by a BBC interviewer during a live broadcast to the effect that the claimant, the Chief Imam of Lewisham Islamic Centre, “is an extremist speaker” who has “promoted and encouraged religious violence” were “substantially true”, i.e., the defence to the libel action which succeeded was “justification” (meaning that the words complained of are substantially true). The complainant first used the BBC’s complaints procedure before applying to the Court for relief. The Court held that the words complained of meant that the complainant...

On 20 October 2016, following a number of meetings with representatives of audiovisual media, journalists and victims, as well as the Paris public prosecutor, the national audiovisual regulatory authority in France (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel - CSA) adopted a set of guidelines on audiovisual coverage of terrorist acts. Under the Act of 21 July 2016 extending the application of the State of Emergency Act of 3 April 1955, the CSA had been asked to draw up a code of conduct for audiovisual coverage of terrorist acts. This request followed complaints about inappropriate coverage of the Paris...