Social Media and the Law

SOCIAL MEDIA and the law CartwrightKing SOLICITORS These days social media forms part of our everyday lives and using it to relay our emotions, particularly when intoxicated, could result in very serious consequences. Sophie Murray Senior Associate & in-house Barrister Posting messages or tweets which are offensive, rude, or designed to provoke a reaction can lead to sentences varying from 6 months in prison for cases that go through to the magistrates court, to 10 years in prison for serious cases where there have been threats to kill. S!@ !@? You only need to send 2 offensive messages for it to be considered harassment. 20 August 2009 The date the first ever person was jailed for posting death threats on Facebook. The 18 year old female was sentenced to 91 days in a young offenders institution. A student was jailed for 56 days after posting racially offensive comments on Twitter A 19 year old male was jailed for 84 days after posting explicit comments and jokes on a missing child's Facebook page. A 27 year old male was arrested after tweeting a "joke" airport bomb threat, frustrated by delays @!"#?-! @!"#?~! Two males in their 20's were jailed for 4 years after creating a Facebook event encouraging a riot Ajurar was jailed for 60 days after posting a Facebook status that found him guilty of contempt of court. A 33 year old man was jailed for 1 year and 243 days after harassing his ex-wife on Facebook The Law 127 Improper use of public electronic communications network A person is guilty of an offence if he- 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 causes any such message or matter to be so sent. A person is guilty of an offence if, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another, he- 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 persistently makes use of a public electronic communications network. A person guilty of an offence under this section 3 shall be liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both. My advice would be to stop for a while before you post something and think seriously about the implications of what you plan to say Sophie Murray Senior Associate & in-house Barrister CartwrightKing SOLICI TORS Sources: The Guardian | BBC News | Metro| The Crown Prosecution Service II