Media ethics: Daily Mail accused of breaking the law in order to obtain information on high profile figures

Prince Harry, Doreen Lawrence and Elton John amongst others launch legal action against Daily Mail for ‘breaches of privacy’

The mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, Prince Harry and Elton John are amongst several high-profile figure who have launched legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper over misuse of their private information. Others include Liz Hurley, whose former partner Hugh Grant was famously behind the sting operation that saw newspaper conduct investigated during the Leveson Inquiry, and former wife of Hollywood Actor Jude Law, Sadie Frost.

The allegations include the hiring of private investigators to place listening devices in cars and homes, payment of police officials for information, wire tapping of personal phone calls and cyber trespass, accessing bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions.

The action against the Daily Mail follows over a decade after similar legal action against the News International Group for the use of similar tactics, which famously led to owner Rupert Murdoch being called to testify in the Leveson Inquiry and exposed many of the links between the UK media and those in power in the UK – something many sociologists of media have criticised.

Read the full article in the Guardian.