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

In this libel case, Yair Cohen acted for Mr Aaronson who is known as Dominic Ford, against Marcus Stones, who is known as Mickey Taylor The case revolved around serious accusations made on Twitter. The judge highlighted the importance of responsible journalism and the verification of information before publication, noting that Stones’ belief that publishing the statements was in the public interest was not objectively reasonable.

Remove defamation pissed consumer

The case of Brian Dudley v Michael Phillips

The case of Brian Dudley v Michael Phillips involves a financial advisor who became the victim of nearly 6 years of defamation and harassment campaign by a former colleague, Michael Phillips. He was awarded, for the first time in England, combined damages for defamation and for breach of Date Protection Act by his defamer.

Celebrities Internet Trolls

celebrities Internet trolls

Why do people troll celebrities? Rumours about celebrities on social media The world of fame and fortune can be a difficult one to navigate. For celebrities, their lives are often the target of scrutiny from their fans and haters alike. Unfortunately, the rise of the internet has made it easier for people to express their …

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

The case of Paul Britton was the first case in the UK, where an online troll was made to take responsibility for his harassing an defamatory activities twice. First in the criminal court and once convicted, in a separate civil case in the High Court.

Why people dont change privacy settings on Google

Google fined for bad cookies practices

I don’t know how many readers of this article have actually tried to change Google’s default privacy settings. When you use Google search, or YouTube, Google brings up a screen which is intended to help you make the right choices about the permission you give Google to collect your private information.

Trouble at the Ministry of Truth

What is the legal status of fact-checking?
According to Facebook, assertive statements of false information, misinformation or disinformation following fact-checking are not facts. They are only an opinion, even though, they are stated as facts and they also carry with them various sanctions.

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The EU anti-trust case against Google-the latest chapter

Latest anti-trust ruling by the European Court Today, the European General Court upheld a 2017 anti-trust ruling by the European Commission which imposed on Google a fine of $2.8 billion following a finding of anti-competitive conduct by the internet giant Why the decision against Google is important Google has lost its appeal against a $2.8 …

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YouTube deletes RT News Channels

YouTube deletes 2 news channels depriving 500,000,000 viewers of news choice YouTube has permanently deleted two news channels, which appear to have reported news in a manner disagreeable to YouTube. Both news channels, which between them share more than half a billion viewers are sister stations of Russian RT News. The news channels broadcast in …

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Is online content removal influenced by politics

Social media giants told by watchdog to delete tons of content or else….

Do social media companies discriminate against Russian generated content and if so, who has to pay the price? Yair Cohen explains in a live interview

Biden v Knight First Amendment Institute

Biden v Knight First Amendment Institute and Twitter’s right to exclude users

Biden v Knight First Amendment Institute, summary of the facts of the case. The case was first brought on behalf of Twitter users who objected to the right of President Donald Trump to block them. The core complaint was that the President’s Twitter account was an “official” account and that the comments section on his Twitter account was a “constitutionally protected public forum

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Why the police must have little tolerance towards online trolls

Yesterday I gave an interview to BBC Scotland where I explained why the government must take a tougher approach and prosecute people who commit harassment on social media. This was after reports by NHS nurses of the spill of the harassment against them to offline, with nurses being abused on the street. The advice given …

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Breach of privacy after a post on a private Facebook Group court case

In the case where damages awarded for breach of privacy on Facebook, it was shown that even when family members share information among themselves (only 35 people had access to the information), where the information is considered to be privacy

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What are the legal risks for parents who post images of their children on social media

As our lives become more isolated and the amount of time we spend on social media is soaring, we start quickly to run out of original things to post. Thank God, though, that there are children in this world. No matter where you put them, they will always come up with something funny, creative and …

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Twitter, Facebook, Political Ads and Mission Statements

At times of trouble, when important decisions need to be made, within the organisation about a critical topic, the place to turn to for the right answer is the mission statement. Mission statements are a way get everyone focused on the right direction, and they play a part in helping a business make sound long-term decisions.

Social media platforms need to be made accountable for the amplification of hate speech

Yair Cohen talked on Al Jazeera earlier this month about the online gaming message board 8chan, which became a haven for extremist content. Social media platforms to be accountable for amplifying hate speech from Yair Cohen Solicitor on Vimeo. 8chan is where the suspect of the El Paso Shooting is believed to have posted a …

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Facebook’s new tool isn’t a remedy for privacy concerns

‘There’s no way out’, says Yair Cohen, Social Media Expert Yair Cohen Live on RT International Facebook new privacy tool Off-Facebook activity from Yair Cohen Solicitor on Vimeo. Earlier this week, Facebook introduced a new privacy feature that will give users clearer information from apps and websites they browse outside of the social network and …

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Why is our government slowly turning into a Facebook

Artificial intelligence might be great for Facebook and particularly for boosting up its advertising revenue. However, let’s remember that history is full of examples of individuals who did exceptional things under exceptional circumstances because they managed to change. They managed to change what they were statistically meant to become, and they did this by challenging themselves.

Facebook launches ads scam report tool following defamation lawsuit

It’s an industry wide problem but will the big tech giants ever understand the reach of the damage that their negligent behaviour can cause? Facebook has created a reporting tool for scam adverts and donated £3m to Citizens Advice for an anti-scan project called Scams Action. The project was launched by Facebook after they agreed to …

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What the US Government is hoping to achieve with the Antitrust Probe

US Congress launches Big Tech Antitrust Probe The federal government is warming up its antitrust enforcement machine and is likely to be in the first stages of a ‘top-to-bottom review of the market power’ and is pointing it at the giant tech platforms – Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple. The anti-trust probe has been initiated …

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Why regulating social media companies could prevent self harm and suicide among young children

In the UK, there are no specific laws to shield social media companies from being held accountable for the material which is published on their platforms. The courts, however, have largely allowed them to get away with claims that they are not “publishers” but only provide

Why does Facebook ban right-wing extremists

The government will eventually, like it or not, police the internet. This is inevitable. The recently published White Paper which warned internet companies very clearly of its intention to set up a new internet regulator is an indication of what social media companies should expect to see in the future. How powerful this regulator will be, will largely depend on how genuine social media companies’ effort to combat intolerance, prevent self-harm and decrease the amount of fake news is.

Bloomberg’s suspicions on Huawei’s hidden ‘back doors’ could be politically motivated

Bloomberg have reported that Vodafone had discovered ‘hidden back doors’ in Huawei’s home equipment, including an internet router in 2009/2010, that would allow the Chinese company unauthorised access to user’s home and business fixed line networks in Italy. Vodafone has admitted vulnerabilities, which were identified by independent security testing initiated by Vodafone as part of …

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Who is really responsible for protecting children’s safety on the internet and is the criticism that the social media companies are getting at the moment Justified?

Internet police author Yair Cohen says I am often asked, how much of a responsibility do we as internet users have, to police the internet ourselves and decide whether we are going to watch certain images or share horror films of live events. After all, the more we share the more we encourage others to commit social media atrocities.
This is a very interesting question. It is easy to blame us, the people, for our part in watching and sharing horrific images via social media. At the same time, people should not be judged too harshly in this regard because after all, we are only human. When we see something that is shocking, something t

Freedom of Speech and Online Harassment

Why is it that people feel that they can say what they want about people on the internet that they wouldn’t necessarily say to someone’s face?. It broadly goes back to the early days of the internet, where there was a perception that the internet was outside the scope of regulations and policing. It was …

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Is online abuse a criminal offence in the UK

Is online abuse a criminal offence?

Katie Price is certainly a controversial figure who doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind. But does this necessarily make her a fair target to online abuse?

She doesn’t think so and i’m supporting her. Katie Price and her children have been suffering from online abuse and harassment far before many members of Parliament started to recognised online harassment and abuse as an issue worth discussing.

Why your child might not be safe on YouTube

To fully understand Google’s culpability, we need to understand Google’s age restrictions policies in relation to YouTube and in relation to Google’s mobile phone operating system Android, which accounts to about 80% of the of the new mobile phone sales and which is where most YouTube videos are being watched.

So, starting with YouTube age restriction policy, and this is this is very important, Google’s officially says that YouTube users must be either 18 years sold, or 13 y

Why this year might have signalled the beginning of the end for Facebook’s business model

Internet lawyer Yair Cohen said that Facebook relies on its hugely complicated, ever changing terms and conditions, which it knows nobody reads. Consent needs to be of clear and coherent and informed and anyone who ever tried to look at any of Facebook’s terms and conditions or tried to change the settings of Facebook privacy settings will know that its terms and conditions are anything but coherent and clear.

Harassment solicitor

Lindsey Goldrick Dean Wins Freedom After 13 Years of Harassment

Harassment lawyer Yair Cohen took on the case after the police would not help for nearly 13 years. Paul Currant and Currant Consulting have agreed to pay damages to the their victim and also to pay her legal costs. They also agreed to never harass her again in an order which was approved by the court.

Disclosing the identity of internet trolls and cyber-bullies

Interestingly, support for the idea that anonymous posting should be phased out has come from an unexpected source. Back in 2011 Facebook’s former marketing director Randi Zuckerberg and Google head Eric Schmidt have both been quoted to suggest that anonymous posting should be made a thing of the past

Why tech and social media companies should face stricter regulation and pay more tax

Yair Cohen, a partner at Cohen Davis Solicitors, discusses the pros and cons of self-regulation and considers why the current taxation system is unfair. To understand the reasons behind the need to end the special treatment tech and social media companies receive by the UK and other Western governments, both, in terms of general regulations …

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Remove search results from Google worldwide

So where do Europeans stand in relation to the removal of Google search results worldwide? Since Google ordered to remove search results worldwide, Europeans are eagerly awaiting the French High Court’s final decision on an appeal. In May 2015 French data regulator ordered Google  to apply Right to be Forgotten removals of search results not …

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Internet police in action: Yahoo scanned emails to help FBI.

The FBI has stepped up its effort to police the internet by requesting Yahoo to assist in developing software to scan emails which were going through YahooMail servers. Yahoo was reported to have agreed but the intrusion did not only affect YahooMail customers but also other email users who happened to communicate with a YahooMail …

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Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo snooping is lawful just because we clicked “yes” to their Terms and Conditions which we never read anyway

The UK government is told it would be unlawful to create a law that requests internet service providers to retain user’s data for 12 months across the board. On Wednesday 21 December 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that it would be unlawful for the UK to enact laws that …

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