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Graham Smith

@cyberleagle.bsky.social
1.5K followers 122 following 2.6K posts

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

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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
‘The government has said that it’s “demonstrably false” that the act compromises free speech because it “places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression”’. >>> Saying it’s so doesn’t make it so. www.cyberleagle.com/2025/09/the-...
cyberleagle.com
The Online Safety Act: guardian of free speech?
Graham Smith's blog on law, IT, the internet and online media
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
New overview of the Online Safety Act from the House of Commons Library. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
The Online Safety Act: An overview
The Online Safety Act 2023 aims to protect people from illegal and harmful content.
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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 09/10/2026
Liberalism dismantled hereditary rule and ended slavery. Somewhere along the way it started sounding like a boring debating club. It needs a boldness that matches its own history.
theunpopulist.net
The Case for a Liberalism That Dares Again
The tradition that dismantled hereditary rule and slavery can topple the authoritarianisms of today
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The Future of Free Speech @futurefreespeech.org · 08/10/2026
🔎 Our new report maps how these rules apply to chatbots and what they mean for free expression: tinyurl.com/5bbbm5d9
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
They say that their proposal doesn't touch the ECommerce Directive hosting shield. This is going to require a wet towel...
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
For anyone interested in platform liability and the eCommerce Directive hosting shields, paras 2.86 to 2.124 and 3.79 to 3.81 are a must-read. lawcom.gov.uk/publication/...
lawcom.gov.uk
Product liability: consultation paper – Law Commission
Reforming the law
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Thanks, but not really. I’m specifically interested in examples of criminal cases where the presumption of reliability was actually applied.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Can you point me to any concrete examples of its actual deployment (outside of breathalysers, speed guns etc) where accuracy of the data was contested? I would love to know of some, but I haven’t come across any in the reported caselaw. See my blogpost.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
By way of background. www.cyberleagle.com/2025/04/the-...
cyberleagle.com
The computer is always right - or is it?
Graham Smith's blog on law, IT, the internet and online media
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I do hope this project will properly kick the tyres and validate (or not) the underlying assumption that the formal evidential presumption has automatically been applied to general computer evidence in criminal cases, and not just take that as read. www.computerweekly.com/news/3666513...
computerweekly.com
Academics study impact of computer evidence presumption on lawyer perceptions | Computer Weekly
Study to delve into how 25 years of flawed legal presumption has affected perceptions of practitioners
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I had one of those - when I wasn’t being creative with the chemistry set.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I had one of those - when I wasn’t being creative with the chemistry set.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Next Lords Communications and Digital Committee evidence session. #OnlineSafetyAct
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Next Lords Communications and Digital Committee evidence session. #OnlineSafetyAct
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David Aaronovitch @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
A free 2000 word post on the sad irrelevant history of the 'Zionism is racism' debate davidaaronovitch.substack.com/p/the-anti-z...
davidaaronovitch.substack.com
The anti-Zionism of fools
On the Corbynising of the Green party
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
AVPA over on LinkedIn have a DCMS response: www.linkedin.com/posts/age-ve...
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
According to AVPA over on LinkedIn, DCMS have responded to them: www.linkedin.com/posts/age-ve...
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Techmeme @techmeme.com · 06/10/2026
The UK's Ofcom opens an OSA probe into Meta over Instagram Instants, launched in May; Meta says it "briefed Ofcom about this feature on a number of occasions" (Reuters) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Meta, TikTok, X challenge UK watchdog over online safety data demands www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
reuters.com
Meta, TikTok, X challenge UK watchdog over online safety data demands
Meta , TikTok and X are challenging British regulator Ofcom over the amount of information it is demanding they provide under Britain's ​nascent online safety regime.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Meta, TikTok, X challenge UK watchdog over online safety data demands www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
reuters.com
Meta, TikTok, X challenge UK watchdog over online safety data demands
Meta , TikTok and X are challenging British regulator Ofcom over the amount of information it is demanding they provide under Britain's ​nascent online safety regime.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Once more: things that Article 19 UDHR does not say. bsky.app/profile/cybe...
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The Times and Sunday Times @thetimes.com · 05/10/2026
Ministers seek harder line on ID verification after concerns that screening measures used in Australia have proved too easy for children to circumvent
thetimes.com
Social media users face passport checks to enforce under-16 ban
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Once more: things that Article 19 UDHR does not say. bsky.app/profile/cybe...
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Refreshingly thought-provoking, well researched piece.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I’m not easily impressed by IT, but a one-line prompt turning a blogpost into an ‘in the style of’ visual is the nearest thing to magic that I’ve encountered. You do have to watch out for the sneaky little errors that creep in, though.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Never mind the kids, our grown-up (I use the term advisedly) politicians don‘t know the difference between the internet, the Web and social media - or if they do know, they don’t care.
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David Anderson @bricksilk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Letter printed in The Times today
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Based on this. www.cyberleagle.com/2026/02/extr...
cyberleagle.com
Extraterritoriality and the transatlantic free speech wars
Graham Smith's blog on law, IT, the internet and online media
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Different tool, same vibe: the transatlantic free speech wars.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
In court tomorrow. TikTok/X/Meta v Ofcom.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
And whatever else we do, don’t meddle with the part that isn’t broken!
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
They say they‘ve given away £900m since they changed their charitable objects in 1995. Maybe an opportunity to revert to their roots and take on another bridge.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Is there anything troubled about the bridges maintained by the City Bridge Foundation? Or is it just the ones run by TFL or local authorities? Why not hand over e.g. Hammersmith Bridge (the most egregious example of paralysis?) to the Foundation?
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Reading this prompted an attempt to visualise an online safety regulatory cycle (with some artistic AI assistance).
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Internet users and platforms, like authors, printers, book publishers, distributors, privately owned spaces open to the public, Conway Hall, you name it, are governed by laws made by the state. That is its role. Freedom to act and speak within those laws is not 'outsourced' by the state. 2/2
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Reading this prompted an attempt to visualise an online safety regulatory cycle (with some artistic AI assistance).
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Internet users and platforms, like authors, printers, book publishers, distributors, privately owned spaces open to the public, Conway Hall, you name it, are governed by laws made by the state. That is its role. Freedom to act and speak within those laws is not 'outsourced' by the state. 2/2
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"While new technologies had always “upended society”, the internet was the only one to have been “entirely outsourced to the private sector” with no role for the state, Nandy said." 1/2 www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
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Index on Censorship @indexoncensorship.org · 01/10/2026
Last week the BBC removed sketches from That Mitchell and Webb Look. This week? An article on nail fashion. The BBC need to DEFEND their content, not remove it, especially when the reason for its removal appears to be fear of causing offence… www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/09/that...
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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Ah, there's the rub
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
To be clear, whether you agree or not with the sentiment, it is not how things are at present.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Don't know, the article doesn't say.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Whatever, this is surely a bizarre description of the current Online Safety Act regulatory regime: "We believe that it is uniquely wrong that we have allowed the online spaces to be treated as private spheres, policed and regulated only by the private sector."
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"We’re going to do proper, comprehensive legislation so that it doesn't just incorporate the specific apps, it incorporates the features that we believe are not safe," >>> so much for regulation by regulator?
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Looking for a topic to set your law students? “AI agents have nothing to do with the law of agency. Discuss.”
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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Big job – Group Director, Enforcement at Ofcom ofcom.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Ofcom_... Newly created role; the UK regulator is splitting its Legal and Enforcement Group into two separately managed service areas Includes enforcement of the Online Safety Act, so this is your chance to be famous
This is a newly created role, reflecting the growing importance of Ofcom's enforcement work, especially as we implement the Online Safety Act. The Group Director, Enforcement will be a member of Ofcom's Senior Management Team and report directly to the Chief Executive. They will lead the Enforcement Group, a team of around 110 colleagues, which until now has been part of our wider Legal and Enforcement Group. The Group Director will ensure focus and coherence at a time of growing regulatory responsibilities and increasing complexity in Ofcom's work.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
As witness the poultry joke. thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/425024-the...?
thelinguist.uberflip.com
The Linguist - The Linguist 53,6
The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, in...
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
At long last Lorna and I agree on something! “While safety by design is often mentioned, how the term is to be understood is unclear.”
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I persevere with Bluesky but it can be more worthy than interesting.
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Graham Smith @cyberleagle.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Fear not, I have had my Kindle copy for a day already! :-)
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