The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Twitter recently decided that rule-breaking tweets from influential politicians would be hidden behind a warning. Journalists were quick to label the new policy the “Trump rule”. But it wasn’t long before the rule was put to the test and found lacking. Continue reading
Peter North, former UKIP parliamentary candidate and founder of the Brexit-supporting Leave Alliance, has been ordered to pay philosopher and academic AC Grayling £20,000 in libel damages after tweeting an allegation that Professor Grayling was in possession of child pornography. Continue reading
Facebook is in crisis mode, but the company can take major steps to fix itself – and the global community it says it wants to promote. Facebook founder, CEO and majority shareholder Mark Zuckerberg need not wait for governments to impose regulations. If he and other industry leaders wanted to, they could make meaningful changes fairly quickly. Continue reading
A federal judge in New York has ruled that President Donald Trump cannot block people from following or viewing his @realDonaldTrump Twitter account. While the case will likely be appealed and could reach the U.S. Supreme Court, the decision is a resounding victory for the First Amendment right of citizens to speak to and disagree with government officials in the social media era. Continue reading
Last month, Mr Justice Warby handed down judgment in Monroe v Hopkins [2017] EWHC 433 (QB), the first libel case to consider the “serious harm” test under section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013 within the context of a social media post.
Twitter may well be the “Wild West” of social media. Certainly, anyone who has spent even a little time on it will be aware that there are a lot of people out there with most decided views who are willing to share them, frequently and stridently. Continue reading
This is the Appendix to the Judgment in Monroe v Hopkins, handed down on 10 March 2017. It provides a very useful short summary of the workings of Twitter for those who are unfamiliar with the way in which it operates. Continue reading
Food blogger and political activist Jack Monroe has won a defamation claim against Katie Hopkins in respect of two tweets published on Twitter (see the Inforrm case preview). Ms Monroe was awarded £24,000 in damages. Judgment was handed down by Warby J on 10 March 2017 ([2017] EWHC 433 (QB)), Continue reading
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