Google, Facebook and Twitter have now been served with injunctions by the Police ordering them to remove photographs purporting to be of Jon Venables. This follows the announcement from the Attorney General’s office on Monday which threatened contempt of court proceedings against those individuals who originally posted or subequently retweeted the photos. The photos uploaded … Continue reading
What should an employer do if a story relating to one of its employees is made public through the press? An article in the London Evening Standard recently exposed a Transport for London worker who had made racist and anti-Muslim comments on his Facebook page. The story, investigated by the Standard following a tip-off, details a number … Continue reading
The Court of Appeal in London has suggested that Google and other online platforms may be liable for defamatory comments posted by users of their websites. The ruling confirmed that websites must act on complaints reasonably quickly to maintain their status as mere “facilitators” rather than publishers, which would expose them to greater liability for libellous comments posted … Continue reading
The Metro has reported that three civil servants have been dismissed from the Home Office following allegations they breached social media guidelines. Information obtained through a Freedom of Information request has revealed that the dismissals followed postings on Facebook, MySpace and Bebo that brought the government department into disrepute, in breach of an internal social media … Continue reading
The BBC has reported a case in Northern Ireland in which a High Court judge has awarded damages of £35,000 against an unknown person who defamed people on Facebook. The identities of the three individuals who were libelled directly and by implication – and the business in which they worked – have not been revealed at the request of … Continue reading
An article in the Guardian has described a new trend amongst students. ‘Spotted’ pages have been set up to allow those studying in university libraries to distract themselves by anonymously posting comments about other students in an online forum on Facebook. Although there seems to be an inevitable movement from harmless joviality and flirtation to pointed abuse extending beyond … 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
The ‘social media police’ are out in force in the civil service The Guardian recently reported that 116 civil servants in the Department for Work and Pensions have been disciplined since 2009 for their use of social media at work, of which 11 have been dismissed. The DWP has stated that access to social media … Continue reading
Kevin Poulter 