IPSO adjudication upheld: Syed Abbas

Syed Abbas complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation, the press regulator, that the Mail Online breached Clause 2 (Privacy) and Clause 6 (Children) of the Editors’ Code of Practice in an article headlined ‘Grieving parents demand answers over ‘mysterious’ death of their daughter in a Pakistan hospital and the disappearance of their grandchildren as they fight to have youngsters, 10 and 8, returned to Britain’, published on 5 February 2023.

The article was an account from a couple whose daughter had died in Pakistan, after having flown there with her two children. It referenced their concerns about what happened to their daughter and the current wellbeing of their grandchildren were. The names and the ages of the children were included in the article, as well as several photographs of the two children.

The complaint was upheld, and IPSO required the Mail Online to publish this adjudication to remedy the breach of the Code.

The complainant was the father of the children. He said that the article had a huge impact on his children. He said he had not consented to the publication of images of his children, or their names and ages. This was a breach of their privacy and the Editors’ Code.

The Editor’s Code requires that children under 16 must not be interviewed or photographed on issues involving their own or another child’s welfare unless a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult consents. The article in this case clearly involved the children’s welfare – it described their grandparents’ concern regarding their whereabouts, as well as the circumstances in which their mother had died – and the newspaper accepted it did not have consent from a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult for their publication. Whilst IPSO considered that the article raised matters that were broadly in the public, IPSO did not consider that publishing the children’s photos, or identifying them, met the test of exceptional level public interest required to over-ride the normally paramount interests of children under 16. There was a breach of Clause 6.

IPSO also found that the publication of the images of the children, along with their names and ages, in this context, represented an unjustified intrusion into the children’s privacy.

IPSO upheld the complaint as a breach of Clause 2 (Privacy) and Clause 6 (Children) of the Editors’ Code and ordered the publication of this ruling.

To report an inaccuracy, please email corrections@mailonline.co.uk. To make a formal complaint under IPSO rules please go to www.mailonline.co.uk/readerseditor where you will find an easy-to-use complaints form. You can also write to Readers’ Editor, MailOnline, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or contact IPSO directly at ipso.co.uk