How Accountable Are We For What We Post Online?
Social media has leveled the playing field. The days of shouting your anger about the injustices of the world aimlessly into the wind, without any accountability for the content of your words are long gone.When a single post can reach millions of people almost instantly, the person behind the post is largely responsible for the emotion caused by it. Accountability for the content of your words is no longer just for the celebrity, politician, musician or writer; it is for the average citizen to have to consider.
The
world of football stood united in March 2012, in support of Fabrice Muamba after
his heart stopped for 78 minutes, with the trend ‘Pray4Muamba’ attracting
messages of support from all corners of the globe. However, not all tweets were of a positive nature. After coming home drunk from a night out, student Liam Stacey took to
twitter to post abusive and racist messages. Within ten days, Stacey was
convicted, sentenced to 56 days imprisonment. Some have argued that the length
of this punishment is too severe in comparison to similar events; six days
earlier Joshua Cryer was convicted for deliberately racially abusing
ex-Footballer Stan Collymore, but was spared a jail sentence.
Publicising the anonymity of a
victim of rape is carries the maximum punishment of a fine, which in November
2012 is just what nine people received. Ched Evans, a striker who played for
Sheffield United, drew a large following due to his talents and celebrity
status. When he was convicted of rape in April 2012, many took to twitter in
outrage to name and abuse the 19 year old victim, in deference to their fallen
hero. Her name appeared in over 6,000 tweets, with nine people receiving fines
for their role in denigrating the victim, being fined a paltry £624 each.
On the other side of the courtroom, the identity of the two women who allowed their children to be abused by Ian Watkins, the front man of rock group Lostprophets, have been protected. At a glance, this appears to be an unnecessary injustice to protect two criminals who committed heinous and sickening crimes. This view was taken by Peaches Geldof, who posted their names on twitter after finding the information ‘on several websites’. However, since the injunction was actually to protect the infants involved, she could face legal action, even though the information was easily available (the Courts and Tribunals Service themselves published the names by mistake).
False accusations can be
incredibly damaging to the reputation of an individual, and when such an
accusation takes the form of printed word, it is called libel. November 2012
saw the release of an inflammatory BBC Newsnight documentary, incorrectly
implicating an anonymous “Senior Conservative” in committing child abuse.
Within hours, a social media witch-hunt gathered momentum, suggesting Lord
McAlpine as the subject of the investigation. Sally Bercow was amongst the
celebrities to stoke the fire, asking her followers ‘Why is Lord McAlpine
trending? *innocent face*”. It soon emerged to be a case of mistaken identity
(the victim had later been shown a picture of McAlpine, then realised his
error). After being defamed, McAlpine sought to recoup and repair his
reputation by entering into legal proceedings with people of influence (the 20
twitter users with 500 followers or more) who incorrectly implicated McAlpine,
donating the compensation to various charities.
The ‘Joke Trial’ of 2010 was
another example of a throwaway comment being examined. Paul Chambers, frustrated
with cold weather affecting his travel plans, wrote:
This soon led to Chambers’ arrest and subsequent trial, where he was found guilty and ordered to pay £985 in total. He also lost his job because of the trial. After the following appeals and with public support from celebrities such as Steven Fry, it was ruled there was no ‘menace’ in his comments, therefore the conviction was quashed.
It is no doubt that we live in an increasingly documented, logged and scrutinised society, and it has become easier to prove and convict those adjudged to have committed offences via communication. It remains to be seen whether current legal documentation is relevant to today’s social media users, or if new rules and regulations are needed to be implemented to protect the free speech of the author.
How Accountable Are We For What We Post Online?
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Reviewed by Anonymous
on
Monday, December 09, 2013
Rating:
Anonymous
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