Social Media freedom of speech rule coming out

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2232759/New-guidelines-mean-popular-Twitter-users-prosecuted-offensive-comments.html

Tweet what you like... as long as you don't have many followers: New guidelines could mean only popular Twitter users are prosecuted for offensive comments

• Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer will issue new guidelines
• Means Twitter user's 'reach' will be noted if they post offensive content
• Comes after Kent teenager was arrested for posting burning poppy photo
• Twitter users who libel individuals face same laws as newspaper editors

It might be the one of the few occasions in life when it's better to be unpopular than have lots of friends.
Twitter users who make 'grossly offensive' comments online could escape prosecution if they have barely any followers on the social media site, the Director of Public Prosecutions has suggested.
But those who are followed by thousands could face the full force of the law if they publish offensive remarks as more people will see them, Keir Starmer said in a conference speech earlier this week.

Big issue: The remarks by Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer follow a row about free speech after Linford House was arrested in Kent for allegedly posting a photo of a burning poppy on Facebook

His remarks follow a row about free speech after a teenager in Kent was arrested earlier this week for allegedly posting a photo of a burning poppy on Facebook, reported the Daily Telegraph.
The arrest of Linford House, 19, prompted civil liberty groups to campaign for free speech, claiming police were threatening the man's rights to express himself - even if what he posted was insensitive.

Mr Starmer's comments come before he publishes guidelines to cope with the new issues arising from expression on social networks, after meeting with police, publishers and internet companies.

Daniel Thomas, a footballer from Port Talbot, Wales, was arrested in the summer after a homophobic message was posted from his Twitter account about Team GB Olympic diver Tom Daley.

Going online: Twitter users who make 'grossly offensive' comments online could escape prosecution if they have barely any followers on the social media site, the Director of Public Prosecutions has suggested

But the 28-year-old was never prosecuted, in part because he only had only around a hundred followers - and while the content was offensive it was not seen as a criminal offence, the DPP said.

GRAYLING'S WARNING TO TWITTER USERS WHO LIBEL INDIVIDUALS

Twitter users who libel individuals on the web face the same laws as newspaper editors, the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling insisted today.
He warned internet users who defame public figures that they could find themselves in court.
Mr Grayling said: ‘It is utterly, utterly wrong that anybody should have their name blackened, inappropriately and falsely, on any form of social media.’
He was speaking amid the outcry over a BBC Newsnight report which led to Tory peer Lord McAlpine being wrongly branded a paedophile.
‘I am as concerned as anybody else about what has taken place over the last two weeks,’ he said. ‘The laws of libel apply equally to what you publish on your Facebook page or Twitter page as they do in a printed form.
‘Those who are damaged in that way have full legal redress to try and get proper justice.’

Mr Starmer, who was speaking at the Internet Service Providers’ Association conference in London on Monday, appeared in the wake of various incidents involving social networks.
Matthew Woods, 19, from Chorley, Lancashire, who made explicit comments and jokes about missing children April Jones and Madeleine McCann, was jailed for 12 weeks last month.
‘If you send a message to the family of April Jones one hour after they have been told their little girl is dead, that is very different to you sending an email to your mate,’ Mr Starmer said, reported the Daily Telegraph.
Azhar Ahmed, 20, of Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire, was given a community order in September after saying ‘all soldiers should die and go to hell’ on Facebook following the deaths of six British soldiers.
These cases have involved Section 127 of the Communications Act, which bans ‘grossly offensive’ messages being sent over telecommunications networks - which has been in place since the 1930s.
‘Millions of cases could potentially be put through our system,’ Mr Starmer said, reported the Daily Telegraph. ‘More cases than the combined number of every other offence on the statute book.’

'The CPS will produce guidelines on cases involving social media which will include a wide range of factors that may make prosecution more or less likely. There will be no one factor which will determine the outcome of any case'  

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman told MailOnline today: ‘As the Director of Public Prosecutions has said previously about offences committed on social media, “context and circumstances are highly relevant”.
‘In accordance with this, the CPS will produce guidelines on cases involving social media which will include a wide range of factors that may make prosecution more or less likely. There will be no one factor which will determine the outcome of any case.
’By way of example, as you can see from the DPP’s statementin relation to the case about Tom Daley, the context and circumstances which are considered might include factors such as the intention of the suspect and the impact on the victim.’

Prosecution: A 19-year-old man from Chorley, Lancashire, who made explicit comments and jokes about missing children April Jones and Madeleine McCann , was jailed for 12 weeks last month

RECENT TWITTER CONTROVERSIES

• Linford House, 19, was arrested earlier this week in Kent for posting a photo of a burning poppy on Facebook
• Daniel Thomas, 28, of Port Talbot, posted homophobic comment about Tom Daley on Twitter but was not prosecuted
• Matthew Woods, 19, of Lancashire, joked about April Jones and Madeleine and was jailed for 12 weeks last month
• Azhar Ahmed, 20, of West Yorkshire, got a community order in September after saying ‘soldiers should die and go to hell’

As the UK debates how to adapt guidelines to the explosion of social media but still respect the right of free speech, Australia has abandoned a proposed filter to block offensive sites.
The Australian government has ditched its five-year pledge to introduce a compulsory filter blocking child pornography and other objectionable internet content.
Instead, internet service providers have agreed to block 1,400 child abuse websites on Interpol's 'worst of' list, the country’s communications minister Stephen Conroy said.
Three of Australia's largest telecommunications companies - Telstra, Optus and Primus - have been blocking the listed sites anyway since 2010.
Critics had argued the compulsory filter would have put Australia in the same censorship league as China. The US had been among those who expressed concerns at the proposed regulations