Graham Smith
@cyberleagle.bsky.social
IT and internet lawyer. Sceptical tech enthusiast. Reposts and links are not endorsements. All views my own. No posts are legal advice. www.cyberleagle.com
The opportunity cost represented by the amount of time and money that has been - and is still being - poured into this blind alley, and that could have been put to more effective use in the cause of online safety, must be monumental. www.cyberleagle.com/2022/08/reim...
October 31, 2025 at 6:32 PM
The opportunity cost represented by the amount of time and money that has been - and is still being - poured into this blind alley, and that could have been put to more effective use in the cause of online safety, must be monumental. www.cyberleagle.com/2022/08/reim...
This draft Council of Europe Recommendation would like to be sure that she is contributing to a "healthy, informed, and democratic public discourse, which is respectful of the rights of others". rm.coe.int/public-msi-e...
October 31, 2025 at 11:06 AM
This draft Council of Europe Recommendation would like to be sure that she is contributing to a "healthy, informed, and democratic public discourse, which is respectful of the rights of others". rm.coe.int/public-msi-e...
Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee not happy. #OnlineSafetyAct publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ld...
October 31, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee not happy. #OnlineSafetyAct publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ld...
The original story about this portal in Nov 2022. www.ukauthority.com/articles/nat...
October 27, 2025 at 1:27 PM
The original story about this portal in Nov 2022. www.ukauthority.com/articles/nat...
Which is the reason why some of Ofcom's proposed proactive technology measures are so problematic. www.cyberleagle.com/2025/08/ofco...
October 22, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Which is the reason why some of Ofcom's proposed proactive technology measures are so problematic. www.cyberleagle.com/2025/08/ofco...
In the discussion of Code of Practice so-called safe harbour, good to see the government acknowledgment that regulatory certainty is a matter for users' rights as well as for platforms.
October 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
In the discussion of Code of Practice so-called safe harbour, good to see the government acknowledgment that regulatory certainty is a matter for users' rights as well as for platforms.
But not the government response on NSOIT. Privacy notices ensure that freedom of expression is respected? Seriously? 2/2
committees.parliament.uk/committee/13...
committees.parliament.uk/committee/13...
October 22, 2025 at 2:59 PM
But not the government response on NSOIT. Privacy notices ensure that freedom of expression is respected? Seriously? 2/2
committees.parliament.uk/committee/13...
committees.parliament.uk/committee/13...
More on how the 'safety by design' school of thought gets itself in a tangle (and, I would argue, always ends up supporting some kind of proactive content moderation). www.cyberleagle.com/2024/12/safe...
October 19, 2025 at 12:02 PM
More on how the 'safety by design' school of thought gets itself in a tangle (and, I would argue, always ends up supporting some kind of proactive content moderation). www.cyberleagle.com/2024/12/safe...
The never-ending tangle that 'systems and processes' advocates get themselves into about requiring platforms to make content judgments. www.cyberleagle.com/2021/11/the-...
October 19, 2025 at 11:45 AM
The never-ending tangle that 'systems and processes' advocates get themselves into about requiring platforms to make content judgments. www.cyberleagle.com/2021/11/the-...
OSAN going full broadcast. Even if this were feasible, surely the point of real-time delay is to provide the opportunity to assess and moderate content? Is that non-content-related safety by design?
October 19, 2025 at 11:36 AM
OSAN going full broadcast. Even if this were feasible, surely the point of real-time delay is to provide the opportunity to assess and moderate content? Is that non-content-related safety by design?
A point that I made in my submission to the computer evidence review. www.cyberleagle.com/2025/04/the-...
October 18, 2025 at 11:55 AM
A point that I made in my submission to the computer evidence review. www.cyberleagle.com/2025/04/the-...
And since this case was all about reliance on IP address data, an excuse to re-up an old favourite. www.cyberleagle.com/2013/05/i-am...
October 17, 2025 at 3:52 PM
And since this case was all about reliance on IP address data, an excuse to re-up an old favourite. www.cyberleagle.com/2013/05/i-am...
The S.179 OSA ‘false communications‘ offence that he mentions has been around in various versions for many years, but only now with the panic about mis/disinformation has it come to prominence. Visual history of S.127, S.179 and related offences here.
October 11, 2025 at 7:09 AM
The S.179 OSA ‘false communications‘ offence that he mentions has been around in various versions for many years, but only now with the panic about mis/disinformation has it come to prominence. Visual history of S.127, S.179 and related offences here.
Quite amusing that the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is listed in the Appendix to the Wolfson Report as a domestic statute covering human rights ground. It wouldn't exist at all but for a series of Strasbourg judgments and the ECHR.
October 6, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Quite amusing that the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is listed in the Appendix to the Wolfson Report as a domestic statute covering human rights ground. It wouldn't exist at all but for a series of Strasbourg judgments and the ECHR.
What Lord Wolfson actually said. www.conservatives.com/wolfson-fina...
October 6, 2025 at 7:17 AM
What Lord Wolfson actually said. www.conservatives.com/wolfson-fina...
From my own blog :-) www.cyberleagle.com/2023/03/five...
October 5, 2025 at 4:28 PM
From my own blog :-) www.cyberleagle.com/2023/03/five...
“…a revamp of the existing immigration enforcement unit that sits within the U.K.’s interior ministry”. A rebrand? Or new recipe with added nastiness?
October 5, 2025 at 9:27 AM
“…a revamp of the existing immigration enforcement unit that sits within the U.K.’s interior ministry”. A rebrand? Or new recipe with added nastiness?
And for an example of the core function of the ECHR, what Strasbourg absolutely should be doing in constraining state action, and which could not have been done without it.
October 4, 2025 at 1:47 PM
And for an example of the core function of the ECHR, what Strasbourg absolutely should be doing in constraining state action, and which could not have been done without it.
That particular example is exempt.
October 1, 2025 at 3:00 PM
That particular example is exempt.
The limit on what Ofcom can put in its Codes of Practice. Similar restrictions apply to its enforcement powers.
September 30, 2025 at 6:31 AM
The limit on what Ofcom can put in its Codes of Practice. Similar restrictions apply to its enforcement powers.
Another round of Ofcom evidence forthcoming. Lords Communications Committee, this time. #OnlineSafetyAct
September 25, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Another round of Ofcom evidence forthcoming. Lords Communications Committee, this time. #OnlineSafetyAct
For the history of the British broadcasting monopoly, it's all in here (yes, that Ronald Coase before he was famous).
September 20, 2025 at 11:53 AM
For the history of the British broadcasting monopoly, it's all in here (yes, that Ronald Coase before he was famous).
Nearly a century later, danger averted (the eCommerce Directive).
September 20, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Nearly a century later, danger averted (the eCommerce Directive).
The British State got in quickly in 1904.
September 20, 2025 at 9:34 AM
The British State got in quickly in 1904.