The UK’s first Internet Lawyer.

Fighting online harassment and abuse since 1997.

Who is Yair Cohen?

Yair Cohen is a UK based expert international internet law and social media lawyer with the London law firm Cohen Davis

For nearly 25 years, Yair has been championing the rights of women who suffer online abuse by taking on some of the most challenging harassment and online trolling cases and bringing notorious online trolls to justice.

KEY REPORTED CASES BY LAWYER YAIR COHEN

Follow @cyberlawexpert

More about Yair

The case of Jack Aaronson AKA Dominic Ford V Marcus Stones Aka Mickey Taylor

14th October 2023

The case of Brian Dudley v Michael Phillips

1st August 2022

The case of XLD v KZL

28th May 2022

The cases of R V Paul Britton and Phipps v Paul Britton and Origin Design

28th May 2022

The case of Rada-Ortiz v Espinosa-Vadillo

28th May 2022

The case of Dominated Men and Mario Rogers

28th May 2022

The case of DDF V YYZ

28th May 2022

The Case of GYH V Persons Unknown

23rd May 2022

The case of Nicola Brookes V Persons Unknown

23rd May 2022

The case of Lindsey Goldrick Dean V Paul Curran

22nd May 2022

The Case of Kirat Assi v Simran Kaur Bhogal – Sweet Bobby

22nd May 2022

AS SEEN ON

“This programme should send your contact details to Cressida Dick who runs the Met… because you seem to have found a shortcut to finding and prosecuting these individuals.”

Richard Madeley
Good Morning Britain

Facebook political ad ban blocks COVID19 vaccine messages

Facebook political ad ban blocks COVID19 vaccine messages

Facebook has been blocking messages from city authorities, health care providers and community officials promoting vaccination against COVID-19. This again has called into question how effective the platform is in helping public awareness campaigns. Read more Does Facebook deliberately promote Chaos | Social Media Lawyer (yaircohen.co.uk)

Financial institutions spy on employees computers at home

Financial institutions spy on employees computers at home

How far would employers go,  spying on employees who work from home

Can employers lawfully spy on their employees who work form home?

Read more Legal issues aroundspying on employees who work from home  

Calling for more online harassers to be prosecuted

Calling for more online harassers to be prosecuted

Yair Cohen explains how he brings private prosecution cases against internet trolls

Speaking to BBC Scotland's Kate Adams, solicitor Yair Cohen explains the reasons for the rise in cases of internet trolling in the UK and how him and his law firm are able to assist victims of internet trolling and harassment

Content removal discrimination by social media companies

Content removal discrimination by social media companies

Yair Cohen explains why social media companies appear to be discriminating against Russian generated content, even when it comes at the expense of vulnerable people who had been subject to people trafficking and to sexual abuse. Read more Online Content Removal

Florida Senate Bill 7072

Florida Senate Bill 7072

What is Florida Senate Bill 7072 and why it was enacted. Read more about Florida Senate Bill 7072

The US to give the ransomware threat same priority as terrorism

The US to give the ransomware threat same priority as terrorism

The US might give ransomware threat the same priority as terrorism. Yair Cohen explains in this live panel discussion that as US internal security services have requested powers that will allow them to handle ransomware hacking crimes in the same way that they handle terrorist activities, other crimes might now come under the same banner of terrorism. Read more The US to give the ransomware threat same priority as terrorism

Can social media companies rewrite history?

Can social media companies rewrite history?

Never before in human history, have those in charge of carrying public information to billions of people across the planet, been left unregulated.  The closest example of large scale information carriers are telephone companies and TV news stations, both of which operate under licences, which prohibit discrimination or selection of their users. Certainly not a selection, which is based on race or on political affiliation. Read more

Why people do not change their privacy settings on Facebook and Google

Why people do not change their privacy settings on Facebook and Google

French data protection regulator has fined Google and Facebook because it found that the social media companies had made it easier for users to accept all cookies, but to reject them all, it would take 5-10 minutes to do. Facebook and Google were told to make it equality easy for their users to opt in and to opt out of their acceptance to the collection of their data.

Yair Cohen on GMB – How to combat social media football racism

Yair Cohen on GMB – How to combat social media football racism

Solicitor Yair Cohen interview with Good Morning Britain

Social media lawyer Yair Cohen interview about racism in football via social media. Yair explains what needs to be done to stop social media racism for once and for all.

Google found guilty on location cheating in Australia

Google found guilty on location cheating in Australia

Google found to have misled Australian users in location tracking case. The Australian Federal Court has ruled that Google misled users in the country when it comes to how it collects and uses location data. Google was particularly crafty on this occasion as it gave users two different security settings, both of which had to be switched off in order for the location tracking to be disabled. However,  only one of the settings mentioned the word “location”. It was called “location history” whilst the other, which Google made sure was turned on by default, was called “webs and apps”. "Who on earth would have guessed that “webs and apps” setting had anything to do with the location tracking", asks lawyer Yair Cohen.

Why European states are slow to use mobile tracing technology during COVID-19

Why European states are slow to use mobile tracing technology during COVID-19

How far can governments go in using mobile technology during COVID

Tracing apps are playing a significant role in some countries in combating COVID-19. There is no doubt that COVID-19 has given a huge boost to some technological advances but more importantly, the virus has created a public readiness to accept them. The COVID-19 outbreak helped destroy psychological barriers by making most people accept certain restrictions on their privacy and freedoms, which they would have never previously been willing to even consider. Read more Why European governments are reluctant to use mobile phone tracking apps during COVID19

Breach of privacy of children when parents post images of their children on social media

Breach of privacy of children when parents post images of their children on social media

What are the legal consequences of parents posting images and other private information about their young children on the internet

Read more Breach of privacy of children when parents post images of their children on social media

YouTube deletes RT news

YouTube deletes RT news

YouTube deletes RT’s German channels over alleged Covid misinformation

YouTube deprives 500.000,000 news consumers of two popular news channels. Read more YouTube deletes RT

Google loses appeal of $2.8 billion fine in E.U. anti-trust case

Google loses appeal of $2.8 billion fine in E.U. anti-trust case

Why the decision against Google is important

Google has lost its appeal against a $2.8 billion fine, which was imposed on it by the EU after the European Commission concluded that it was operating in an anti competitive environment. This decision against Google is important but no many people fully appreciate its significance. Read more Google loses appeal of $2.8 billion fine in E.U. anti-trust case

Why are farmers in India supported by social media giants

Why are farmers in India supported by social media giants

Why India farmers protest is supported by social media giants who say they will refuse to comply with the take down requests by the Indian government and instead, act upon their own judgement

Yair Cohen, social media lawyer talks live about social media giants' hypocrisy when dealing with the largest democracy in the world. Read full article Why India farmers protest is supported by social media giants | Social Media Lawyer (yaircohen.co.uk)

Apple fined $12M in Russia over app market abuse. Yair Cohen explains why

Apple fined $12M in Russia over app market abuse. Yair Cohen explains why

Apple’s “crime” was that it made it difficult for a third-party company who developed a child safety app, to sell the app through its app store. Instead, Apple promoted its own app, exclusively. Read more: Apple fined $12M in Russia over alleged app market abuse

Should political ads be banned on social media?

Should political ads be banned on social media?

The role of social media ads during election campaigns

A step too far for Facebook fact-checker

A step too far for Facebook fact-checker

After Facebook fact-checker decided to take on one of the most credible medical publications in the world, Facebook had to admit that its fact-checking is only "an opinion" Read more Facebook fact-check is only an unlearned opinion ended up with . The British Medical Journal dared to publish whistle-blower report about the mishandling of COVID 19 data trials.

Yair’s key specialties are:

International disclosure orders against website operators and internet companies

Learn more …

Defence against online defamation and privacy breaches

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Defence against aggressive campaigns of reputation attacks (personal and corporate)

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A glance at some of his landmark cases underscores Yair Cohen’s unparalleled expertise

• Brian Dudley v Michael Phillips: A case where a financial advisor was awarded combined damages for defamation and a Data Protection Act breach after enduring 6 years of online harassment.
• XLD v KZL: Yair strategically secured a blackmail injunction, safeguarding the confidentiality of a relationship and the identity of an involved individual.
• R V Paul Britton & Phipps v Paul Britton and Origin Design: A first-of-its-kind case in the UK where an online troll faced dual accountability: in a criminal court and subsequently in a civil case in the High Court.
• Rada-Ortiz v Espinosa-Vadillo: This case set a UK precedent by issuing a harassment injunction against a former UN employee who targeted his previous supervisor.
• Dominated Men and Mario Rogers: Yair’s meticulous investigation unveiled a primary school head teacher’s covert and exploitative life as a porn producer.
• DDF V YYZ: Another first, where Yair achieved service of a harassment injunction via Instagram.
• GYH V Persons Unknown: Yair championed the rights of a transgender sex worker, preserving her right to maintain privacy regarding her transition on review websites.
• Nicola Brookes V Persons Unknown: A pioneering case compelling Facebook to reveal information about an internet troll.
• Lindsey Goldrick Dean V Paul Curran: Yair’s relentless efforts culminated in justice being served in the UK’s longest-known harassment case, lasting for over a decade.
• Kirat Assi v Simran Kaur Bhogal: A decade-long catfishing intrigue that saw its conclusion with Yair bringing the culprit to justice in the High Court.
• TJM v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police: A monumental case where, for the first time, a police force was found guilty of the highest level of defamation. Yair represented a Royal Marine who suffered defamation at the hands of the police force.
• With such a vast repertoire of groundbreaking cases, Yair Cohen stands as a beacon in internet law. His experiences, combined with his eloquent engagements, solidify his stature as a leading authority in the realm of digital justice.

“We have got laws in place: the same laws that apply to offline activities apply to online activities.“

Yair Cohen
on BBC Radio