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 case, the courts were not able to accept her explanation
