Athelstane Aamodt warns against the rash & ill-considered use of Twitter
- Rash and ill-considered use of Twitter has recently led to high-profile libel action.
- The idea that the ‘Twittersphere’ requires some kind of special consideration because it is not a serious arena of debate and expression is no longer the case.
- Where harassment is alleged, the tort is not complete unless and until it impacts upon the person concerned.
On 4 November 2012, Sally Bercow, the wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, published a tweet that has since become infamous. It read: ‘Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *Innocent face*’
As is now well known, Alistair McAlpine (Lord McAlpine of West Green) had, at the time of Ms Bercow’s published tweet, been wrongly implicated in a child-abuse scandal that had been reported on television and in the press, and that implication resulted in false rumours circulating on Twitter and—as a consequence—his name started trending. Ms Bercow’s tweet resulted in libel proceedings being brought by Lord McAlpine against Ms Bercow. In Ms Bercow’s
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