In 2012, 653 people were charged out of
4908 ‘social media’ offences were reported. The Association with Chief Police Officers
(ACPO), reckon that these figures demonstrate a new challenge for the
authorities. Contrast with the 2008 figures where 46 were charged after 556 complaints.
The conviction of Paul Chambers in 2010 for a Tweet about blowing up Robin Hood
Airport, South Yorkshire and the subsequent successful appeal, has led to
interim guidelines. These were issued just before Christmas.
The threshold each police force seems to
treat this area with varies according to the different levels of resourcing. Greater
Manchester Police took the highest number of people, 115, to court. Director of
public prosecutions Keir Starmer QC has announced these new guidelines on how
people who post offensive messages on Facebook and Twitter should be dealt
with. He admitted that the CPS had made the wrong judgment call in the case of
Paul Chambers. Again it’s the balance between free speech and criminal offensive
language.
HS&Co are experienced criminal defence
solicitors, specialising in the whole range of offences including sex crimes,
child pornography crimes, computer and social networking crimes.
