I haven’t
posted anything about Twitter and Facebook for a few weeks.
It all
seems to have gone a bit mad!
Last week,
two jurors were sent to prison for using Facebook and Google. I the first case Kasim Davey updated his
status with –
‘Wooow I wasn’t expecting to be in a jury deciding a
paedophile’s fate, I’ve always wanted to f*** up a paedophile & now I’m in
the law.’
In a separate case Joseph Beard tried to research his case
using Google. Both were imprisoned for 2 months for contempt of court. As
jurors they will have been told that they must base their decision on the
evidence alone and certainly that should not discuss the case with anybody
else.
This is again a reminder that the internet is in fact part
of the real world and anything we say and do can have severe consequences if we
do not stop and think.
Those jurors were thoughtless and are paying the price. But
recent developments on Twitter are simply nasty. A number of high profile women
have received threats of violence via the site. These have included references
to rape and death, including bomb threats –
Historian
Mary Beard has been on the receiving end of such threats and encourages victims
to report them to the police just like any other crime - "There is no
two ways about it, threatening to kill someone is a crime and that's what I and
other people have done and I hope other women who get these threats will do the
same."
Twitter itself has been criticised for a slow response. This
has led them to take on extra staff to deal with complaints.
All of this is bound to lead to calls for tighter control
over or even censorship of social networking sites whose influence is growing
by the day. I cannot actually see that happening or even being a practical option.
But this behaviour is clearly unacceptable. It is no more acceptable in the virtual
world than in the real world, in fact there is no difference. Swift complaints
to Twitter and the police seem to be the most effective option.
And for those who are simply careless the message is still –
think before you tweet!!
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