Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No 4) Regulations 2024 made The Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No 4) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/1333) have been made. These Regulations are the fourth commencement regulations under the Online Safety Act 2023. They bring into force on 17 January 2025 the duties about regulated provider pornographic content in section…
Ofcom publishes final version of illegal harms guidance under Online Safety Act
Ofcom has published its first-edition codes of practice and guidance on tackling illegal harms, such as terror, hate, fraud, child sexual abuse and assisting or encouraging suicide, under the UK’s Online Safety Act. The Act places new safety duties on social media firms, search engines, messaging, gaming and dating apps, and pornography and file-sharing sites….
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European Commission opens formal proceedings against TikTok on election risks under the Digital Services Act
The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against TikTok for a suspected breach of the Digital Services Act in relation to TikTok’s obligation to properly assess and mitigate systemic risks linked to election integrity, notably in the context of the recent Romanian presidential elections. The investigation will focus on management of risks to elections or…
Irish Data Protection Commission fines Meta €251 Million
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has announced its final decisions following two inquiries into Meta Platforms Ireland Limited. The DPC launched own-volition inquiries following a personal data breach, which was reported by MPIL in September 2018. The data breach affected approximately 29 million Facebook accounts globally, of which approximately 3 million were based in…
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AI Christmas Carol 2.0

(with apologies to Charles Dickens) Sarah Harris, Henry Goodwin and Ashley Winton update the perennial themes of Scrooge to a 21st century setting where Scrooge is struggling to stay relevant….. Published shortly before Christmas in 1843, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was an instant hit in 19th century Britain, telling the salutary tale of Ebenezer…
ICO responds to consultation series on generative AI
In January 2024, the ICO launched its five-part generative AI consultation series. It has now published its consultation response. The series set out to address regulatory uncertainties about how specific aspects of the UK GDPR and the DPA 2018 apply to the development and use of generative AI. It did that by setting out the…
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CMA consults on unfair trading guidance
The Competition and Markets Authority is consulting on draft guidance about the protection from unfair trading provisions in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The unfair commercial practices (UCP) provisions in the DMCC Act prohibit unfair commercial practices, replacing and updating the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The UCP provisions: The…
UK consults on proposals to give creative industries and AI developers clarity over copyright laws
The UK government is consulting on how copyright material can be used to train AI models. It aims to ensure protection and payment for rights holders and support AI developers to innovate responsibly. Currently, uncertainty about how copyright law applies to AI is holding back both sectors from reaching their full potential. It can make…
ICO consults on revised approach to public sector regulation
In June 2022, the ICO announced a two-year trial of a revised approach to working more effectively with public authorities across the UK. This is the “public sector approach”, which saw the use of the Commissioner’s discretion to reduce the impact of fines on public bodies and the services they provide, and aimed at improving…
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Technology and Security for Lawyers and Other Professionals

The Basics and Beyond Rónán Kennedy reviews a book aimed directly at the legal professional who needs to understand the technology they advise on. Those who work in law and technology are sure to encounter some aspect of hardware or software that they do not understand, either because it is new or because they simply…
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