I have gone
on and on about the legal dangers faced by all of us who use Social Media.
How
many stories have we read about those who have tweeted without thinking and landed
themselves in hot water?
Most
recently there has been the conviction of Emma Way. She hit a cyclist with her wing
mirror knocking him into a hedge and causing minor injuries. It was a fairly
routine accident which would normally have passed us by. But she then told the
world on Twitter;
"Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier. I
have right of way - he doesn't even pay road tax! #Bloodycyclists."
She was prosecuted for failing to
stop after and accident and for failure to report it. It is no great surprise that
she was convicted and fined. But for the tweet the cuclist
would probably, not have taken it any further –
This was
real case of tweeting without due care and attention –
Even more serious
problems have arisen when comments on court cases have endangered the chances
of a fair trial. I blogged back in August about the two jurors who were
imprisoned for posting comments about ongoing trials –
This has
led the Attorney General to publish warnings about the consequences of posts
that might prejudice a fair trial. Such guidance is already provided to the
mainstream media. Such is the power of social media that the same information will
be provided on twitter. He has acknowledged the growing influence of Facebook
and Twitter - "Blogs and social media sites like Twitter and
Facebook mean individuals can now reach thousands of people with a single tweet
or post," He also explained that the intention was enable posted to
comment without getting themselves into trouble - "I hope that by making
this information available to the public at large, we can help stop people from
inadvertently breaking the law, and make sure that cases are tried on the
evidence, not what people have found online.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-war-on-twitter-social-media-sites-threaten-justice-system-warns-attorney-general-8981287.html
The warnings will appear on Twitter at @AGO_UK. It might be
a good idea for all regular tweeters to follow that particular site. What this
means is that we all have the capability to comment on local and world events and
to reach thousands within a few minutes. This is clearly good for democracy.
But it also means we have a responsibility – to others and
to ourselves. It we can only grasp the power we hold in our hands then we will remind
ourselves to think before we tweet!!
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