Court of Appeal drops Sun on Sunday celeb threesome injunction – media naming gag remains pending appeal
The Court of Appeal has backed the Sun on Sunday’s push to have an injunction protecting the identity of a celebrity accused of 'extra-marital activities’ dropped – with caveats.
The injunction has been dropped but a media gag remains forbidding the publication of the couple’s names pending further appeal from PJS.
A celebrity individual, known by the court as ‘PJS’, earlier this month lodged an injunction against the Sun on Sunday, stopping it from identifying him and his spouse (YMA) in an alleged report claiming he partook in a “three-way sexual encounter” with a hairdresser.
Judges were tasked with weighing up whether an injunction taken against British publishers was worth policing after it was sidestepped by the international media reports in Scotland, the US, Ireland and beyond.
The media gag was activated out of respect for the couple’s privacy, and that of their young children. On Friday, Lord Justice Jackson issued the thought: "The question now is can the injunction stand in the new world?"
The court spent the weekend deliberating whether the injunctions can actually be policed in a social media savvy world where publications often hold substantial digital presences.
The injunction has been dropped but a media gag remains forbidding the publication of the couple’s names pending further appeal from PJS.
Last week, Google was among the groups abiding by the order, blocking access to links referring to the couple.