03 Feb 10 | Uncategorized
On this morning’s Today programme former Formula 1 boss Max Mosley reiterated his call for individuals to have a “right to notification” before newspapers published allegations about their private lives. It was a fascinating interview, and well worth a listen here.
Mr Mosley, who won £60,000 in damages from the News of the World after it alleged he had been involved in a “Nazi orgy” is to deliver a speech on whether the press should be allowed to publish details of a public figure’s private life.
Interviewed by Today presenter John Humphrys, Mr Mosley said that individuals should have a “right to notification” before any allegations are printed about them. “so that if you wish you can go to a judge and if you can convince the judge he’d stop publication”.
Mosley added that he felt there was “no public interest” in the John Terry case. Mosley will be debating this issue tomorrow evening at an event titled Gagging the press: Is the public bound to suffer?. The discussion will be chaired by Lord Justice Moses. Other speakers include Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger and Index on Censorship trustee Sir Ken Macdonald QC.
Mosley’s proposal raise some interesting questions about the right of reply, legal fees etc, which we will be back to discuss later.
06 Nov 13 | Digital Freedom, Europe and Central Asia, News and features
In a defeat for Google, a French court has ordered the search engine to pre-filter nine images of former Formula One chief Max Mosley, the company said today. Mosley was also awarded €1 in damages.
“In a troubling ruling, a French court held today that Google must build a filter to remove nine of Mr Mosley’s images from our search results. This decision should worry those who champion the cause of freedom of expression on the Internet. Our existing removal process represents an effective way of helping Mr. Mosley,” Daphne Keller, Associate General Counsel, said in a statement.
The company said in a blog post that the case was not just about Google.
Any start-up could face the same daunting and expensive obligation to build new censorship tools — despite the harm to users’ fundamental rights and the ineffectiveness of such measures.
More information on the case can be found here.
12 Dec 11 | Leveson Inquiry
The former chief reporter of the News of the World has Denied any involvement with the paper’s strategy over publishing a story accusing ex-Formula 1 boss Max Mosley of engaging in a Nazi-themed orgy,
Neville Thurlbeck told the Leveson Inquiry he was not involved in any decison to put video footage of Mosley’s orgy on the News of the World website. He added that he was not instructed by the newsdesk to notify Mosley of the story, and therefore did not seek his comment.
“I am just person who is investigating [a story]”, Thurlbeck said.
Lord Justice Leveson seemed stunned at Thurlbeck’s lack of involvement. “Aren’t you being a bit unkind to yourself,” he asked, “you were the chief reporter.”
Thurlbeck responded that strategy decisions were made by the editor. “The chief reporter and the news editor…are all very grand-sounding titles but they don’t really call the shots at all.”
Thurlbeck said he imagined the editor would fear the story would be prevented from coming out if Mosley were notified prior to publication. “We all know Mr Mosley would have sought an injunction,” he told the Inquiry. in the event of an interim injunction, he said, the story would have been leaked and become the “currency and property of our rivals.”
Thurlbeck agreed with counsel to the Inquiry, Robert Jay QC, that there was no public interest in the piece without the suggestion of a Nazi theme, and it was this feature that “persuaded” him the story was in the public interest. He said the consenus at the paper was “we had a legitimate story we need to run.”
Thurlbeck received fierce questioning from Jay and Leveson. He was examined over emails to the women involved in the Mosley orgy about a follow-up story. They were offered anonymity, a sum of money and pixellation of their photographs, or the opposite if they did not agree to the paper’s terms. Thurlbeck took full responsibility for sending the emails, but told the Inquiry they were drafted by news editor Ian Edmonson.
“It was offering the girls a choice,” Thurlbeck claimed. Leveson pressed him, reminding him of Mr Justice Eady’s inference that the emails constituted blackmail, and asked if the girls’ right to privacy had been discussed at any point. Thurlbeck said it had not.
Mosley sued the paper for a breach of privacy in 2008. He was paid £60,000 in damages.
Thurlbeck also defended his splash on David Beckham’s affair with Rebecca Loos, noting that the footballer had cultivated and marketed an image of having a fairytale marriage. “We felt it important to expose it as a sham,” Thurlbeck said.
He repeatedly refuted evidence given to the Inquiry by former News of the World reporter Paul McMullan that painted an image of corruption at the redtop. Thurlbeck asserted that the paper’s staff were “exemplary” and that the culture at the paper was one of “thoroughness”. He added that McMullan’s view that circulation defined public interest was a “travesty”.
Thurlbeck added that a greater focus on privacy matters had rendered kiss and tell stories a “dead” genre.
The Inquiry continues tomorrow, with evidence from the News of the World’s former head of legal, Tom Crone; Farrer & Co lawyer Julian Pike; and Harbottle & Lewis’ Lawrence Abramson.
Follow Index on Censorship’s coverage of the Leveson Inquiry on Twitter – @IndexLeveson.
09 Apr 08 | News and features, United Kingdom
Motor racing supremo Max Mosley has failed in his attempt to stop the News of the World from publishing an extract from a video of him with several prostitutes on its website.
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