Ever thought sending an 'innocent' tweet could keep a person who is on trial out of jail? Or have influence increasing the years they serve? This is called defamation.
The Victorian Police sent out a tweet, "arrest of man in relation to disappearance of Gillian Meagher", and not long afterwards news organisations began tweeting:
@abcnews #breaking news: a 41yo Coburg man has been arrested in relation to disappearance of missing ABC worker Jill Meagher
@theage Update: Man arrested over Jill Meagher case
The arrested man's name soon surfaced onto twitter feeds, and Facebook hate pages were created. Social media users made nasty comments about the alleged murderer of Meagher.
Commenting on social media today can be an act of defamatory, and people who are involved in publication can be sued for contempt of court. This could potentially jeopardise a trial, preventing justice to be served.
"The risks involved are prejudicing the outcome of the trial, poisoning the potential jury pool, " Senior Associate Trenton Schreurs said.
After vicious comments were made, journalists and professionals became aware of the number of tweets that were published about the man who had been charged with the murder of Jill. Journalist Julie Posetti tweeted a warning for tweeters, "for those reporting/tweeting on the man's arrest in connection with Jill Meagher's disappearance, a guide to sub judice",
providing a link.
"Journalists and the legal profession are aware of the risks, though perhaps the general public is not," Schreurs said.
Journalists have been taught and know the consequences of defamation. They are more likely to be liable for contempt and potentially lose their job. Schreurs agree that if everyone were at risk of losing their jobs as well it could prevent the publishing of nasty comments.
"However, I believe that this may lead to a public debate concerning freedom of expression and free speech also.
"If people were at risk of losing jobs for publishing comments on say Twitter, then this may lead to an uprising on that front."
This leads to the issue where the Internet and social media now plays a part of being a news platform, where anyone with access to the Internet can be journalists.
Research from
The Pew Research Center's Project show twitter users are more likely to obtain their news through their smartphones, this means people can send in comments instantly. This instant news update allows the public to engage in a breaking news story. For example, the Jill Meagher murder case. This is when social media users need to be aware of what is tweeted and published. But social media has not replaced the traditional way of obtaining news. Facebook users get their news from friends and family while Twitter users tend to follow news organisations and individual journalists.
Social Commentator, NBN Champion and former journalists and program maker Andrew Heslop said a defence lawyer would track down the author of a comment made on Twitter and Facebook to prove his client has been defamed.
"Every interaction leaves a digital trail even if the comment is deleted.
"It's very easy to commit sub-judice contempt and compromise a person's right to a fair trial."
Heslop explains the issues of social media and defamation in an
ABC News interview, also he wrote for
The Drum telling a story where he could have been sued for contempt.
Tips for social media users
Heslop said to think twice before commenting.
"If it's a criminal matter take a second and put yourself in the place of the alleged offender.
"Think, then tweet."
In an
article by Crikey, media law expert Mark Polden stated three things you should not do:
- Commentary on the guilt or the innocence of the accused
- Details of prior criminal convictions or charges
- The publication of photos of the accused
The family of Jill Meagher requested all hate and suspect pages on Facebook to be taken down.
The Australian reported, Ms Meagher's husband told the public to be mindful of the comments they wish to say in social media as it could damage legal proceedings. These pages were prejudicial to the case and has been shut down.
