“Prosecutors will be told to exercise ‘real caution’ before deciding to prosecute children and young people over abusive comments made on Twitter and Facebook under guidelines to be issued today, it was reported.”
Daily Telegraph, 18th December 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Today, I am talking with Sean Jones QC of 11 KBW, a leading employment and public law set. We look at the employment law implications for use of social media in some depth and discuss the important case of Smith v Trafford Housing Trust [2012] EWHC 3221 (Ch).
We then move on to discuss practice at the Bar, the immediate to medium term prospects for barristers and Sean Jones QC provides some advice for prospective barristers.”
Charon QC, 27th November 2012
Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com
“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.
“The nature of messages posted on social media platforms and not how many people read those comments should determine whether public prosecutors pursue legal action against those that breach UK communications laws, an expert has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 15th November 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
“Twitter account holders with few followers could escape prosecution for posting ‘grossly offensive’ messages as part of an attempt to protect free speech online, under new guidelines being developed by Britain’s most senior prosecutor.”
Daily Telegraph, 13th November 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A sales adviser who made a series of depraved sexual comments about five-year-old April Jones on Facebook has been given a suspended prison sentence.”
The Guardian, 7th November 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Media lawyers Niri Shan and Lorna Caddy explain why commenting on Twitter and Facebook is no longer the same as a chat down the pub.”
Daily Telegraph, 5th November 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Today I am talking to John Cooper QC. The DPP is holding a series of round table meetings to consider where the law should be in relation to online social media spoken and written. Rather strangely – while the DPP invited lawyers who have been involved in recent high profile cases and some lawyers who weren’t even peripherally involved – Keir Starmer QC did not extend an invitation to leading criminal silk John Copper QC who actually led the team in the celebrated Paul Chambers Twitterjoketrial case – which the team won.”
Charon QC, 10th October 2012
Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com
“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.
“A 12-week prison sentence given to a man who posted offensive comments on Facebook about missing April Jones and Madeleine McCann has been criticised by legal commentators as disproportionate. But are judges and magistrates out of touch when it comes to social media?”
BBC News, 10th October 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The director of public prosecutions is exploring whether Facebook and Twitter should take more responsibility for policing their networks for abuse and harassment in an attempt to reduce the number of cases coming to court.”
The Guardian, 9th October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A man who posted a Facebook message following the deaths of six British soldiers which said: ‘All soldiers should die and go to hell’ has been sentenced to a community order and told to pay costs of £300 by magistrates.”
The Guardian, 9th October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A 20-year-old has been sent to prison for twelve weeks for posting offensive and derogatory comments about missing five-year-old April Jones on his Facebook page. His attempts at humour were undoubtedly stupid, offensive and exhibited incredibly poor taste and timing. But is a long spell in prison really the way we should be dealing with offensive idiots? Is a law which was passed before social media existed now placing a significant chill on our freedom of expression rights?”
UK Human Rights Blog, 9th October 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
“Director of public prosecutions to draft guidelines about prosecution for offensive, indecent, or obscene comments online.”
The Guardian, 9th October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has said:
‘On 30 July 2012 Daniel Thomas, a semi-professional footballer, posted a homophobic message on the social networking site, Twitter. This related to the Olympic divers Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield. This became available to his ‘followers’. Someone else distributed it more widely and it made its way into some media outlets. Mr Thomas was arrested and interviewed. The matter was then referred to CPS Wales to consider whether Mr Thomas should be charged with a criminal offence.'”
Crown Prosecutions Service, 20th September 2012
Source: http://blog.cps.gov.uk
“The parents of one of six British troops killed in the most deadly attack in Helmand were among those horrified to read a Facebook message days later that said ‘all soldiers should die and go to hell’, a court heard.”
The Independent, 14th September 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A man who abused a Tory MP in a crude email after the politician was headbutted by a rival at Westminster was fined £110 and ordered to pay £100 costs yesterday. Nicholas Scales told MP Stuart Andrew to ‘stop wasting police time and get your fucking job done’, Leeds magistrates court heard.”
The Guardian, 22nd August 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The body representing Britain’s chief police officers has rejected calls for new laws to govern how the police deal with the abuse of Twitter, saying that problems may eventually be resolved by the microblogging website itself.”
The Guardian, 4th August 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The arrest of a teenager by police investigating abuse of Olympic diving star Tom Daley on Twitter has led to calls for a new initiative educating the public about the ease with which a tweet can end with a jail sentence.”
The Guardian, 31st July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Twitter users have to understand that every tweet is a broadcast – even if it’s prefaced with an @.”
The Guardian, 31st July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“An internet ‘troll’ who sent a threatening email to a Conservative MP has been banned from contacting a host of celebrities, including Lord Sugar.”
The Guardian, 11th June 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A Berkshire man has been jailed for posting abusive messages online about a schoolgirl after she committed suicide. Sean Duffy, 25, of Reading, was handed an 18-week sentence for posts on social networking sites about Worcester teenager Natasha MacBryde.”
BBC News, 13th September 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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