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NLJ this week: Can this Act keep us safe online?

22 March 2024
Issue: 8064 / Categories: Legal News , Cyber , Cybercrime , Technology , Privacy , Criminal , Artificial intelligence
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From deepfakes to revenge porn, the rise of online crime has created a tough environment to police

In this week’s NLJ, Farrer & Co partner Thomas Rudkin and associate Emily Costello assess the chances of the Online Safety Act 2023, the latest sheriff in town.

Will the Act live up to the government’s boast that it makes the UK ‘the safest place in the world to be online’? Rudkin and Costello examine some key provisions of the Act. They note the ‘potentially dramatic and rapid technological—and indeed social—developments’ that pose a major challenge to regulation of this area, such as artificial intelligence. 

The authors write that while it could be said the Act ‘doesn’t provide sufficient detail’ to cover some gaps that have been identified, ‘some of its more generic wording may serve to cover technological advances yet to emerge’.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

Investment banking veteran appointed as chairman to drive global growth

NEWS
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
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