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The Trouble with Tweeting


Global Young Professionals listen up - consider before you comment as your tweets could cause trouble.

We have been concerned about the topic of social inequality for a long time. We conducted a study that you can find at Education Blog and listed all the shortcomings of society.

Despite the obvious benefits of social media facilitating widespread communication and creating a means of generating global discussion about topical issues, which engages millions of online social media users every day. Not all topics up for popular discussion can be instantly published to an audience of thousands without a thought for repercussions.

The Attorney General Dominic Grieve has issued advisory notes, which are publicly available online, to discourage twitter users from expressing remarks and opinions concerning criminal cases which could pervert the course of justice through compromising the integrity of court proceedings. This need to educate people about the legal drawbacks of tweeting about such cases is imperative in protecting people from publishing posts that equate to contempt of court.

All published comments must comply with the Contempt of Court Act 1981, which encompasses a breadth of behaviour types which intentionally or accidentally undermine or could be reasonably understood to pose a high probability of undermining a defendants right to a fair trial.

Interestingly, the Contempt of Court Act pre-dates the emergence of the Internet thus the role of social media in committing contempt may become problematic if this legislation fails to sufficiently regulate this rising form of publication.

In an attempt to deter potential controversial publications, the General Attorney has expressed caution to users of online social media that the penalties for committing contempt of court may indeed increase in severity alongside the statement that the claim of ignorance in mitigation will be rejected. Similarly, social media users must be aware that re-tweeting is equally as defamatory as writing the original post.

“Re-tweeting is equally as defamatory as writing the original post”

A key example of this issue is illustrated in the case of Chad Evans (which generated in excess of 6,000 tweets), whereby nine people revealed the identity of the victim, through online social media, which breached the victims legal right to lifelong anonymity. The nine persons who used social media to comment on the case not only identified the victim but were also the source of the abuse directed at the victim, which is a further aspect of online social media all users need to be aware of.

Under the Communications Act 2003, section 127;

127 Improper use of public electronic communications network

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he—

(a)sends by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character; or

            (b)causes any such message or matter to be so sent.

(2) A person is guilty of an offence if, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another, he—

(a) sends by means of a public electronic communications network, a message that he knows to be false

(b) causes such a message to be sent; or

(c) persistently makes use of a public electronic communications         network.

This act outlines the details of what constitutes as an improper use of public electronic communications networks, as should be adhered to by all those who publish content online.

Equivalent in relevance is the Public Order Act 1986, section 4A, which extends the responsibility of online users to act in ways that are not deemed abusive.

4 Fear or provocation of violence.

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he—

(a) uses towards another person threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or

(b) distributes or displays to another person any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting,

with intent to cause that person to believe that immediate unlawful    violence will be used against him or another by any person, or to provoke the immediate use of unlawful violence by that person or another, or whereby that person is likely to believe that such violence will be used or it is likely that such violence will be provoked.

These legislative acts are not orchestrated with the objective of restricting a person’s right to the freedom of speech but it provides a framework from which discussion can flourish in lawful manner.

At the end of the day – would you want your trial influenced by online speculation?


Image credit: ©Shutterstock.com

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Comments not written in English will be given a translation below the original comment. This is because English is largely the common language of most of GYE's readers and thus we hope this will facilitate discussion and debate.

36 Comments on The Trouble with Tweeting

  1. Tristen // August 6, 2022 at 8:34 pm // Reply

    I think you should be allowed to tweet about whatever you want on the internet – it’s called freedom of speech!

    LikeLike

  2. Connor P // August 8, 2022 at 6:12 pm // Reply

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  4. dave // September 9, 2022 at 3:41 pm // Reply

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  5. dave zitting // September 10, 2022 at 11:16 pm // Reply

    Thanks for finally talking about The Trouble with
    Tweeting | Global Young Executive (GYE) – Liked it!

    LikeLike

  6. Jess // September 17, 2022 at 9:37 am // Reply

    I appreciate your web-site. Maintain the truly amazing work. I’ll come back to you and learn more posts produced by you. High five!!

    LikeLike

  7. Lewis // September 22, 2022 at 3:42 pm // Reply

    I don’t think it is fair that if you tweet about something then you can face legal action against you. It seems to be a a way of restricting freedom of speech and expression. We should be encouraging people to debate topics online rather than restrict it – debating and discussion could allow more people to be aware of whats going on in the world as everyone spends so much time on social media.

    LikeLike

  8. Sherita // September 23, 2022 at 11:30 pm // Reply

    When it is is online, it is there forever. Noone has the right to write anything they feel like and display is publicly in cyberspace for all to see when they are writing about someone else. ENough said.

    LikeLike

  9. Oscar Shiels // September 24, 2022 at 12:12 am // Reply

    We have to protect people from others tweets information, sometimes inaccurately, which can affect their reputation. 140 characters isn’t enough to explain the context/background of a statement made in a tweet.

    LikeLike

  10. Domenic // September 24, 2022 at 2:09 am // Reply

    sounds like censoring to me. they don’t want us all talking about current cases online in case we dare form our own opinion. i like hearing what other people’s interpretations are of events – it is always good practice to listen to opinions from a variety of sources

    LikeLike

  11. Edwina Riesland // September 25, 2022 at 10:51 pm // Reply

    don’t regret tweeting

    LikeLike

  12. Alicia Gawler // September 26, 2022 at 4:39 am // Reply

    Magnifique article

    English translation: Wonderful article

    LikeLike

  13. Cierra Mosley // September 26, 2022 at 9:55 am // Reply

    Ceѕ articles sont réellement instructifs

    English translation: The articles are really informative

    LikeLike

  14. Jarrod // September 27, 2022 at 10:44 am // Reply

    Οn voit de suite que vous connaisse très biеn le sujet

    English translation: “Οn see immediately that you know very good topic”

    LikeLike

  15. Phil // September 28, 2022 at 3:55 am // Reply

    Јe n’ai point fini de lire mais je reviens demain

    English translation: “I have not finished reading but I go back tomorrow”

    LikeLike

  16. Leia // September 28, 2022 at 11:53 pm // Reply

    Post très éclairante !!!

    English translation: “Post very enlightening”

    LikeLike

  17. Francois // September 30, 2022 at 3:45 am // Reply

    Je viendrai de nouveau demain j’apprécie l’article comme celui-ci.

    English translation: “I will come again tomorrow I enjoy article like this one.”

    LikeLike

  18. Jeanette // September 30, 2022 at 8:35 am // Reply

    J’espère pour discuter de ce sujet avec des amis

    English translation: “I hope to discuss this topic with friends.”

    LikeLike

  19. Jada // September 30, 2022 at 5:16 pm // Reply

    El piar no debería ser un crimen!

    English translation: “Tweeting should not be a crime!”

    LikeLike

  20. Lizzie // September 30, 2022 at 7:41 pm // Reply

    Splеndide article une fois plus

    English translation: “Splеndid article once more”

    LikeLike

  21. luciana // October 2, 2022 at 6:07 am // Reply

    Je suis arrivé sur votre site par hasard, mais je suis heureux que j’ai trouvé maintenant!

    English translation: “I came on your site by accident but I am pleased I’ve found it now!”

    LikeLike

  22. Lorenz // October 2, 2022 at 7:55 pm // Reply

    Formidablе аrticle : ϲontinue de cette manière

    English translation: ” Formidablе аrticle : continue this way”

    LikeLike

  23. Jesse // October 2, 2022 at 8:06 pm // Reply

    Encore une fois un très bon post, je vais partager avec mes amis

    English translation: “Again a very good post, I will share with my friends”

    LikeLike

  24. Caitlyn // October 4, 2022 at 8:12 am // Reply

    Vous faîtes toujours des posts fascinants

    English transition: “You are doing always fascinating posts”

    LikeLike

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    Vous écrire constamment des articles intéressants

    English translation: “You write constantly interesting articles”

    LikeLike

  26. Aimé // October 4, 2022 at 6:53 pm // Reply

    Je peux dire que n’est absurde !!

    English translation: “I can say that is absurd!!”

    LikeLike

  27. Chandra // October 5, 2022 at 1:34 am // Reply

    Cet article me donne envie de lire la suite

    English translation: “This article makes me want to read more”

    LikeLike

  28. Rolla // October 7, 2022 at 11:45 am // Reply

    Excellent post

    LikeLike

  29. Gwen Kroemer // October 7, 2022 at 1:39 pm // Reply

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    Executive (GYE). I was excited enough to drop a thought :-P I really enjoyed this article and I urge you to write more on the topic.

    LikeLike

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    English translation: This is actually exciting artіcles

    LikeLike

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    English translation: Wildly fascinating Article

    LikeLike

  32. danya // October 19, 2022 at 3:31 pm // Reply

    trèѕ bon post : j’en parlerai dans la soirée avec mes collègues

    English translation: very good post: I will speak in the evening with my colleagues

    LikeLike

  33. Chenna // October 20, 2022 at 9:20 pm // Reply

    je suis tombé par votre message, et c’est formidable que je serai de retour pour vous

    English translation: i came by your post and it is great i will be back again for sure

    LikeLike

  34. flo // October 23, 2022 at 3:02 pm // Reply

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  36. Kieran // November 30, 2022 at 4:13 am // Reply

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