Dear America, Let me begin with a confession. I am a lawyer, and lawyers are the reason you have never read to the end of anything about internet regulation. We write as if the reader were another lawyer, or a judge, or a wall. I am going to try not to do that here, because […]
Dear America, Ofcom has sent you a bill Read More »
This is chapter 1 of Regulated Without Representation, a series by internet law solicitor Yair Cohen on how Britain regulates the internet and who pays for it. New here? Start with the introduction. Picture a telephone exchange in 1935. Rows of young women in headsets, a wall of sockets and cords, and a voice in
This is chapter 2 of Regulated Without Representation, a series by internet law solicitor Yair Cohen on how Britain regulates the internet and who pays for it. New here? Start with the introduction. The previous chapter is here. In the spring of 1765 the British Parliament had a problem that will sound familiar to any
This is chapter 3 of Regulated Without Representation, a series by internet law solicitor Yair Cohen on how Britain regulates the internet and who pays for it. New here? Start with the introduction. The previous chapter is here. On 14 April 2025 an email arrived at an American message board called 4chan. The sender was
The hamster, the judge and the regulator: 4chan v Ofcom explained Read More »
This is chapter 4 of Regulated Without Representation, a series by internet law solicitor Yair Cohen on how Britain regulates the internet and who pays for it. New here? Start with the introduction. The previous chapter is here. On the afternoon of 29 July 2024 a seventeen year old walked into a Taylor Swift themed
This is chapter 5 of Regulated Without Representation, a series by internet law solicitor Yair Cohen on how Britain regulates the internet and who pays for it. New here? Start with the introduction. The previous chapter is here. Imagine the White House announced tomorrow that Google, YouTube and TikTok must put CNN and NBC at
Who decides what you read? Britain’s plan to put a minister in your feed Read More »
This is chapter 6 of Regulated Without Representation, a series by internet law solicitor Yair Cohen on how Britain regulates the internet and who pays for it. New here? Start with the introduction. The previous chapter is here. Somewhere in Whitehall, the district of London where the government departments sit, there is a spreadsheet. On
When the Americans say no: how the Stamp Act ended, and how this might Read More »
How to make the internet safer without overloading it with government free‑speech brakes Last year, death threats made against Piers Morgan and his family, and the swift police response that followed, brought the issue of online abuse back into sharp focus. That case reminds us of the very real dangers that come with unchecked online
Keep free speech, stop online harassment Read More »
the pressure on UK police forces is relentless and growing. Over the past decade, forces have faced repeated funding cuts, coupled with rising population pressures driven by high levels of immigration
the implications of the Brazilian judge’s decision. While Matt focused on Elon Musk and X as the sources of controversy, I argued that the more pressing issue is being overlooked
The Controversial Ban on X in Brazil: A Debate with Matt Frei | LBC Interview Read More »
Recently, I was quoted in a Newsweek article discussing Elon Musk’s controversial comments regarding a potential UK civil war and Keir Starmer’s subsequent legal warnings about online violence. The full article can be read here Could Elon Musk Face Legal Action For UK ‘Civil War’ Post?. Given my deep interest in technology, law, and free
Elon Musk, UK Civil War, and Keir Starmer’s Populist Rhetoric: A Critical Analysis Read More »
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.
Google fined for bad cookies practices Read More »
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.
Trouble at the Ministry of Truth Read More »
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
The EU anti-trust case against Google-the latest chapter Read More »
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
YouTube deletes RT News Channels Read More »
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
Social media giants told by watchdog to delete tons of content or else…. Read More »
The aim of Senate Bill 7072 Florida (SB 7072) is to create a fairer competing environment for political candidates in Florida.
Senate Bill 7072 Florida Read More »
Internal security organisations in the US, have requested powers to allow them handle ransomware threat the same they handle terrorism.
blackmail and ransomware threat are a form of terrorism Read More »
Apple fined for anti-competitive behaviour. Earlier this week, Apple was fined by the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service for gaining an unfair advantage over other companies, through its app store.
Apple fined $12M in Russia over alleged app market abuse Read More »
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
Why India farmers protest is supported by social media giants
India farmers protest is supported by social media giants Read More »
There are political ideologies that thrive on chaos. What if one day (or perhaps already) Facebook decides to adopt one of those ideologies and start using its power and influence to promote and spread chaos in some countries or around the world.
Did Facebook promote Chaos during COVID days? Read More »
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.
Why European governments are reluctant to use mobile phone tracking apps during COVID19 Read More »
The truth of the matter is that Facebook is now a “publisher” and as such it can be sued, at least in the UK for
Is Facebook a publisher? Read More »
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.
Twitter, Facebook, Political Ads, Fake News and Mission Statements Read More »
The Law Society Excellence Awards have been celebrating the hard work and inspirational achievements of solicitors, legal teams and firms of all sizes across England and Wales for the past 12 years. This year Social Media lawyer Yair Cohen has been shortlisted as The Law Society Solicitor of the Year for his work in developing
The Law Society Excellence Awards 2019 Read More »
Solicitor Yair Cohen speaks to BBC Radio Kent about The rate of homophobic hate crimes in the UK, including stalking and online harassment, has more than doubled over the past five years, with Kent police reporting a staggering 400% increase in reported cases.
Why homophobic hate crime has surged in England and Wales Read More »
I don’t know Jesy Nelson, but I feel both, relieved and delighted that she had found the courage to speak out about her experience to the BBC. I am absolutely sure that actions will save lives
Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson Trolling Read More »
Introducing the Solicitor of the Year – Private Practice Shortlist: Q&A with Yair Cohen, Partner at Cohen Davis Solicitors
Law Society Lawyer of the Year Finalist Interview: Yair Cohen Read More »
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 white nationalist manifesto rant. The platform in the meantime, had been shut down but the post was then copied to numerous mainstream social
Should social media platforms be made accountable for hate speech? Read More »
Artificial intelligence might be great for Facebook and particularly for boosting up its advertising revenue. However,
Can predictive crime systems turn into a thought police Read More »
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
Facebook launches ads scam report tool following defamation lawsuit Read More »
Instagram has introduced two new systems using artificial intelligence. One, which will be known as Comment Warning, will be responding to comments that will prompt the encouragement of rewording if abuse Yair Cohen says to BBC World
Instagram declare war on bullying to avoid Government regulations Read More »
Simone Burns death. What impact can sharing such material have on an individual and what can be done to limit the distress and damaged
Simone Burns death-free speech or freedom from harassment Read More »
Yair Cohen , Social Media Lawyer, discusses Twitter’s recent decision of hiding harmful tweets by politicians
Can Twitter censorship of politicians’ tweets ever be justified? Read More »
In an interview with RT News, Yair Cohen – Internet Law and Social Media Lawyer, discusses alongside Bill Merr, a privacy campaigner, the recent revelation about Facebook’s moderator contractors’ poor working conditions and what Facebook could possibly do to improve working conditions.
Perhaps Facebook does not really want content on its platform to be moderated Read More »
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
What the US Government is hoping to achieve with the Antitrust Probe Read More »
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
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.
Why does Facebook ban right-wing extremists Read More »
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
Who is responsible for protecting children’s safety online Read More »
Executive training in internet law. London top internet law solicitors firm delivers exclusive training sessions to company executives on social media and internet law
Internet Law and Brand Management Read More »
UK internet law expert Yair Cohen will be presenting at the Internet Law Leadership Summit in Las Vegas. Latest development on the EU Copyright Directive, EU ePrivacy Regulations and latest GDPR trends.
Internet Law Leadership Summit Read More »
The reason why some people allow themselves to say online what they wouldn’t dare saying in person 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 a free space where people could do whatever they wanted; free speech was king, there wasn’t a government and in fact,
Freedom of Speech and Online Harassment Read More »
This week, Yair Cohen was interviewed on Al Jazeera TV and was asked by the host: ‘Do you think that the expectations of the egalitarian nature of the internet were too high?’ Yair: ‘I think that the internet, in the early days, was seen almost as an anarchistic place. The idea of the bureaucracy meant
Can the internet ever be policed? Read More »
Moving away from self-policing does not necessarily mean the creation of ‘thought police’ or a ‘snooping unit’, but rather it is intended to make people feel safer online and bring our police into the twenty-first century.
It is possible to regulate the internet despite its global nature Read More »
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.
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
Disclosing the identity of internet trolls and cyber-bullies Read More »
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
Why tech and social media companies should face stricter regulation and pay more tax Read More »
This year Yair Cohen will be presenting at the Internet Law Leadership Summit the latest developments in UK and European Internet Law, Data Protection, Privacy and Defamation law.
Internet Law Leadership Summit Read More »
To understand the extent of the neglect of users, one only needs to look at some of the staggering figures which were candidly provided by some internet companies who were represented on the panel.
Why Social Media companies remove content and should they do more? Read More »
Internet companies are stepping up their game when it comes to policing the internet. Following warnings by the government that it will introduce external regulations, social media companies are already practicing large scale removal of user generated content.
Policing the internet, is this a beginning of a new era? Read More »
Internet police. A powerful book about the future policing of the internet; a platform from which the crying voices of victims of online crime can be loudly and clearly heard.
Internet Police – The net is closing. The e-police are here Read More »
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
Internet police in action: Yahoo scanned emails to help FBI. Read More »
Cohen Davis law society award in delivering excellent client care service. We do our best to deliver an outstanding level of internet law services to all our clients by opening our processes. Internet law experts UK. Strategies minute by minute, step by step.
What makes it worthwhile being an internet lawyer Read More »
Google anti trust case. Google anti-trust case made simple. Internet lawyer Yair Cohen
Is Google a victim of an anti-trust witch-hunt by the European Commission? Read More »
Lawsuit against Facebook . Radio interview with Yair Cohen, UK social media litigation lawyer. Facebook sued by Israeli and USA citizens over Palestinian attacks. Lawyers have filed a $1B lawsuit against Facebook, accusing it of knowingly supporting the Palestinian group Hamas. Law suit against Facebook might succeed. Facebook harassment legal advice
The $1 billion lawsuit against Facebook over Hamas incitement: what happened to it Read More »
Net neutrality abolished. Fast lane or slow lane and what the fuss is all about. fast lane an slow lane – what does it really mean and how this might affect you as an internet user.
What is net neutrality? The 2015 vote, and where the UK stands now Read More »
In 2013 I was privileged to be invited to the Supreme Court to take part in the Model Law Commission, a project run by Big Voice London with the support of the Supreme Court and the Law Commission, in which a group of sixth-form students from London state schools are encouraged to design law reforms
The Model Law Commission: the internet laws young people asked Parliament for Read More »
New online piracy laws are planned to be introduced as part of the Digital Economy Act 2010.
What do the new Piracy Laws mean to you?
UK online piracy laws: the 2014 debate, and what happened next Read More »
The key issue is whether it’s fair to place the entire burden of responsibility on the platform. Social media companies, while crucial in setting and enforcing community guidelines, cannot single-handedly control user behaviour.
talkSPORT, Twitter and Stan Collymore: who is responsible for abuse online? Read More »
