New statistics released by two thirds of the country’s police forces have revealed that almost 2,000 children have been investigated in the last three years over comments posted on social media sites. Of those, over 1,200 were charged, formally cautioned, fined or warned following their online behaviour, including one aged only nine years old. These figures are … Continue reading
In the last couple of weeks, footballers and Olympic athletes have come under attack from online trolls, often through Twitter. Now, former footballer Stan Collymore has accused Twitter of not doing enough to combat abusive messages or taking action against those responsible. He’s even pulled the plug on his own Twitter account, deleting all but … Continue reading
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer, has now published its final guidelines stating how offensive a comment must be to justify police and prosecution time. There are already concerns that the guidance will not go far enough to prevent the growing phenomenon of online ‘trolls’. Starmer has said that prosecutors must respect and recognise freedom … Continue reading
The UK’s first Youth Police Commissioner will not face prosecution over inappropriate tweets which led to her resignation. Kent Police have confirmed that 17 year old Paris Brown will not be prosecuted in respect of the allegedly racist, homophobic and violent tweets revealed by the Mail on Sunday earlier this month. Brown had only been … Continue reading
Dominic Grieve QC, the Attorney General, has recently been speaking out about the use of social media and advocating a zero tolerance approach. When I met with him we discussed this and how his own position might be seen to be at odds with some of his colleagues in public office. Dominic Grieve has enjoyed a steady … Continue reading
The Attorney General Dominic Grieve has warned that Twitter users who have posted or retweeted pictures claiming to be of Jon Venables, who murdered James Bulger as a child 20 years ago, may be fined and could face a prison sentence. An order is in place to protect the identity of James Bulger’s killers, Venables … Continue reading
In December 2012, Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) set out interim guidelines for the prosecution of people who misuse social media, but are these suitable for use in the workplace? As a result of an increase in the number of allegations the Crown Prosecution Service has had to deal with – about … Continue reading
Kevin Poulter 