Need to know

• Platforms will have 48 hours to act once notified that an image has been shared without consent.

• The Crime and Policing Bill will need updating to formally enforce this rule.

Welcome to TSL’s Weekly Edge, whether you’re aiming for a regional or high-street practice, or just want to get a feel for how law works in the real world beyond textbooks, you’re in the right place. 

No corporate jargon, no massive deals, just real useful information designed to give you that extra edge in your legal journey.

👀 From The Inside: A Limited Student Lawyer Mini Series

What does working in law actually look like? Not the polished version. The real one.

We’ll be bringing you fortnightly insights straight from those living it. Because the difference between sounding informed and being informed is understanding how things work on the ground. 5th April. Keep your eyes peeled.

🧠Wilson’s Weekly Wisdom

I was at a trial last month. A big one. The kind where everyone in the room quietly agrees it never should have got that far.

It was painfully obvious the Claimant was lying and the claim was fraudulent, but sitting in Court you quickly learn the importance of a solid poker face. No raised eyebrows and definitely no eye rolling.

Law is full of moments where you know more than you can say, or think more than you can show. Whether it’s listening to a client confidently tell you something that is legally impossible, or dealing with an opponent trying their luck, keeping your composure matters. 

Your credibility is often judged less on what you say and more on how you say it. Calm, professional, unflappable.

📣 Your Turn: Ask Us Anything (Almost)

Got a question that’s been quietly bugging you about the legal world, commercial awareness, training contracts, or how regional firms actually work day to day?

Each month, we’ll pick a question and do an editorial response. Just honest, practical answers you can actually use in applications, interviews, and real conversations in firms.

If you’re wondering it, chances are someone else is too. So be brave, be curious, and send it in.

👉 Submit your question here!

💡Spotlight Article

You trusted someone with a private photo.

Then one day, it’s out there. Not just for a fleeting moment, either; it keeps popping up on different sites like you’re stuck in some nightmare version of whack-a-mole.

You report it. You think that’d sort it.

But instead, you’re left hanging, waiting, chasing, reporting it again and again.

All while it keeps spreading.

🔎What’s happening? 

The government looked at that mess and said, “No, that’s not acceptable”. They’ve come in with what’s being called the 48-hour rule. 

If a platform’s told about one of these images, something shared without consent, they’ve got two days. That’s it. No dragging of feet, no endless back-and-forths, or serious problems are on the horizon! 

Platforms could be hit with fines worth up to 10% of their global turnover. In extreme cases, they could even be blocked in the UK altogether. Now, that’s some serious leverage.

Instead of someone constantly fighting to get their image removed, the law puts the responsibility squarely on the tech companies to act fast. One report should be enough. That’s the whole point. People shouldn’t have to keep reporting the same image on repeat.

From the onset, it must be taken down everywhere, and if someone tries to upload it again, it’s automatically flagged and stopped. 

Ofcom is looking at treating these images the same way they handle illegal images involving minors, giving them a kind of digital fingerprint so systems recognise and stop them instantly before they spread again.

The wild west corners of the internet are next on the list as the government’s also going after rogue sites, especially the ones sitting outside the Online Safety Act’s rules. They want internet providers to start blocking access to those altogether if they’re hosting this kind of content.

Politically, this is being framed as part of a bigger fight. Keir Starmer recently called the internet the “frontline” in tackling violence against women and girls, further saying that this issue is a “national emergency”, which tells you how seriously they’re pitching this fight.

They’re aiming to achieve this by tweaking the Crime and Policing Bill to include the new rules. This means it’s not just guidance or a polite suggestion; it’s a legal duty. 

It’s also more than the obvious stuff like revenge porn. It’s the entire spectrum; leaked intimate photos, people sharing private images out of spite, AI-generated deepfakes, those very questionable digital undressing apps, all of it. 

In other words, if it’s a risqué image of someone that’s been put online without their say-so, the law’s treating it seriously, and it doesn’t matter how it was made or why it was shared.

The aim is quite clear-cut: shut it down quickly, before it spreads and does more damage.

Strip all the jargon away, and the goal’s simple: stop putting the burden on victims to solve these kinds of tricky situations. Instead, force platforms to take control and deal with it. Fast!

❓ Why it matters to high street firms

All of this can sound a bit distant, like policy talk that doesn’t really touch real life. 

Until someone walks into a solicitor’s office, shaking, in tears and feeling helpless because a private image of them is all over the internet. At that point, theoretical frameworks can, and should, take an automatic backseat.

Realistically, these cases don’t start with big-city firms; they usually start with that small, but established and trusted local firm, Citizens Advice, a family clinic, or a community centre.

Sometimes, a local solicitor can be all these things to a client, be it at once, or different things at different times. That kind of solicitor is now the one sitting across from someone seemingly in the deep end, explaining what the law says, how fast platforms are supposed to act, and what they need to do next.

That 48-hour rule?

It finally gives people something solid to lean on and start with. 

Although the “report once” idea helps, it doesn’t mean there’s little work to do. On paper, it seems victims must chase these issues across ten different platforms, for example.

The reality?

Someone must still guide them through it, taking screenshots, saving evidence, filing reports properly, and pushing things further if nothing happens. That someone could be you!

It’s urgent, it’s emotional, there’s a lot of admin wrapped up in it. It never just stays online because this sort of thing usually spills over into harassment, stalking, domestic abuse, blackmail, messy breakups, and even police involvement.

So, knowing how this side of the law works isn’t a niche skill anymore. It is and should be the usual run of things.

At the heart of it, high-street law is dealing with and helping people on some of the toughest days they’ll ever face. Truth be told, there’s hardly any  rewarding outcomes out there.

Online Safety

It’s not just about keeping it civil at times. It’s about making the internet a place where getting hurt isn’t a given, and where platforms must step in when it happens.

Whenever tech crosses paths with mistreatment, deepfakes, leaks, stalking, or grooming, you’ll find yourself in the thick of online safety matters.