Online Harms and Online Safety Solicitors

The posting of illegal or unacceptable content or behaviours experienced on online is conduct that can escalate quickly and have devastating consequences.  Whether you have been targeted by abusive messages, discovered the sharing of private material, or false allegations made across social media platforms, messaging apps or other online services, the impact can be immediate and deeply distressing.  

JMW’s media and reputation management team includes experienced online safety solicitors who are able to advise you on the legal routes to take decisive action to protect individuals (or businesses) facing serious online harm. Our team advise on the civil legal routes available, including claims in defamation, misuse of private information, harassment and data protection, and assist you to take swift legal action to limit further exposure. This may involve engaging directly with social media companies or other online platforms, securing the removal of illegal content, or pursuing injunctive relief and a damages claim.

The Online Safety Act 2023 represents a significant shift in how online safety is regulated in the UK. It places new legal obligations on companies providing user to user online services and search engines that target the UK, requiring them to carry out risk assessments, introduce safety measures and take responsibility for how harmful content and illegal content are managed on their platforms. Whilst there is not currently a civil route for an individual to raise a complaint via the Online Safety Act, our media and reputation management team of lawyers work closely alongside our specialist criminal lawyers in our business crime and regulatory team to advise on potential criminal complaints, including the new communication offences introduced by the Online Safety Act 2023.

If you are dealing with an online harm that is affecting your reputation or professional standing or wellbeing, early legal intervention is key. We act quickly, often in time-critical situations, to protect your interests, manage risk and restore control. To speak to JMW’s online safety solicitors, call 0345 872 6666 or complete our online enquiry form to request a call back.

How JMW Can Help

When harmful content appears online, taking the right action at the right time is critical. Our Media and Reputation Management team, led by partner Rebecca Young, is regularly instructed in time-critical situations and acts quickly to assess risk, advise on strategy and protect your wellbeing, reputation and wider interests.

Rebecca is supported by a team with experience across defamation, privacy, data protection, harassment and breach of confidence matters. The team includes George Leeming, who regularly acts in defamation, privacy and data protection claims and assisting clients to secure the removal of content from national newspapers and online forums, and Rhiannon Baldwin, who regularly advises clients on privacy complaints, data protection matters and defamatory social media posts, as well as claims in harassment.

We represent individuals and businesses across a range of sectors, including public-facing professionals, entrepreneurs, social media and content creators, sportspeople, international businesspeople and corporate clients. Many of the matters we handle involve user-generated content shared across social media platforms, messaging apps and other online services, where allegations, private information or harmful content can gain traction quickly.

Our approach is strategic and commercially focused. We assess the legal and reputational position at the outset and take action in line with your objectives. This may include:

• Contacting the online platform hosting the content and requesting its removal
• Contacting those responsible to prevent further publication or secure removal
• Applying for urgent court orders, including interim injunctions
• Pursuing civil claims for defamation, misuse of private information, breach of confidence, harassment or breaches of data protection law

As part of a full-service law firm, we also work closely with colleagues in our employment law, family law, business crime and regulatory law, and property litigation departments where online harm overlaps with wider legal or commercial issues.

You do not need to decide in advance which remedy to pursue. We will explain the options, discuss the likely outcomes and take the agreed action on your behalf.

Meet Our Team

Led by partner Rebecca Young, our Media and Reputation Management team combines experience in urgent reputation management, privacy, defamation and data protection matters. The team advises individuals and businesses in the UK and internationally, including public-facing professionals, entrepreneurs, content creators, sportspeople and corporate clients.

Our lawyers are experienced in acting at short notice, securing the removal of unlawful content, advising on interim injunctions and managing fast-moving online and media issues. Rebecca has also been invited to comment on legal issues by Sky News, ITV News and radio broadcasters, reflecting the team’s recognised authority in this area.

When Does Online Harm Become Legally Actionable?

The Online Safety Act strengthens the legal position of individuals affected by harmful online content, but it does not provide a direct route for private individuals to bring a civil claim under the Act itself. Instead, the legislation creates a framework of legal duties on online platforms and introduces new criminal offences, with regulatory enforcement sitting with Ofcom and the police.

As the new regime under the Online Safety Act has begun to take effect, online platforms are expected to introduce clearer reporting processes, risk assessments and safety systems to address illegal content and harmful material. While the Act primarily regulates companies rather than individuals, these obligations can support efforts to remove harmful content and hold platforms accountable where appropriate.

Our Media and Reputation Management team can discuss possible civil causes of action in situations that might involve one or more of the following:

• False statements presented as fact and capable of damaging your reputation, particularly where shared or repeated across multiple platforms or reaching a wider audience through engagement with the original post.
• Private, confidential or sensitive information disclosed without your consent, including content that interferes with your privacy or gives rise to data protection concerns.
• Online harm that involves a pattern of targeted behaviour, including repeated posts, messages or campaigns designed to intimidate, undermine or cause distress.

We assess each situation based on its specific facts, the level of risk involved and how the content is developing.  The legal routes to challenge online content may include claims in:

Defamation

Broadly, where a false statement, presented as fact, is published, in which you are identified, and the statement is one that may cause serious harm.  

Misuse of private information

If private or confidential information has been shared without your consent, we act immediately to try to contain the situation and prevent further exposure. This may include:

• Securing the urgent removal of images, communications or sensitive material from online platforms
• Contacting individuals or organisations responsible to stop further disclosure
• Obtaining injunctions to restrict ongoing or future publication
• Pursuing legal action where your privacy rights have been infringed

Speed is critical in these cases, particularly where content is being widely shared across online services.

Harassment

Where there is a pattern of repeated or targeted behaviour that is causing you upset and distress, and may even be changing the way that you live your day to day life.

Breach of data protection legislation

Where personal data has been disclosed, shared or used unlawfully, there may be grounds to take action under data protection legislation. This can include the publication of images, contact information or other personal data without a lawful basis.

We can advise on steps to seek the removal or restriction of the information, prevent further use and pursue a claim where the disclosure has caused harm. Our team advises both individuals and businesses on data breach and data privacy claims, including matters involving online platforms, social media posts and the unlawful disclosure of sensitive information.

Breach of confidence

Where the information may be commercially sensitive or shared by you with another in confidence, discovering that the information has been shared online can be devastating and or deeply worrying.  We can advise on steps to seek the removal or restriction of any further disclosure, and pursuing legal claims for damages or injunctive relief.