In the battle between protecting children’s right to privacy and allowing publishers to exercise their freedom of expression, recent case law has seen children’s rights triumph.

The case of Weller and Others v. Associated Newspapers Limited involved the publication of unpixelated photographs of three children aged 10 months to 16 years, who also happened to be the children of Paul Weller, an English singer, songwriter and musician. An action was brought for damages for misuse of private information, breach of the Data Protection Act, and an injunction preventing the Mail Online from publishing any further images.

The case saw the Court of Appeal uphold the Court of First Instance’s judgment in favour of the children claimants on the grounds that they had a reasonable expectation of privacy, and their Article 8 right to a private and family life outweighed the defendant’s Article 10 right to freedom of expression and information.
Continue Reading The battle between children’s right to privacy vs. publisher’s freedom of expression