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Twitter Joke Ends In Criminal Record?Twitter users may have to be more careful with their "tweets" after a man's "joke" about blowing up an airport led to a conviction for posting "grossly offensive" messages. The guilty verdict is believed to represent the first successful criminal prosecution in the UK for a tweet, as Twitter postings are known. Some legal experts say the case raises concerns about freedom of speech online. Unlike Facebook, where most messages remain private between friends, most of the 140-character postings on Twitter are visible for anybody to read. Paul Chambers, a journalist and trainee accountant from Doncaster, turned to Twitter to vent his frustration about travel disruption during January's snowfalls. "Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed," he wrote. "You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!" After the South Yorkshire airport became aware of the message, Mr Chambers was arrested on suspicion of making a bomb hoax. The Crown Prosecution Service initially considered a terrorism prosecution, but Mr Chambers was eventually charged under the 2003 Communications Act, which makes it an offence to send "indecent, obscene or menacing" messages over a public electronic communications network. Mr Chambers initially admitted the charge, but changed his plea to not guilty, saying he had not meant his joke to be offensive. Doncaster magistrates found him guilty and fined him £385, plus £600 costs. Mr Chambers, who now has more than 1,200 followers on Twitter, turned again to the site to express his despair. Friends said his criminal record could harm his accountancy career. Thousands of Twitter users, including several comedians, expressed their confusion and anger at the conviction, which many felt arbitrary in a forum where jokes and robust commentary are common. Danvers Baillieu, of Winston & Strawn, who advises tech start-ups on legal matters, said the ruling appeared to be an "overreaction" that was "very worrying" for free speech. But Anna Doble, of Wiggin, a media law firm, said the conviction was "a reality check for Twitter users". "The law affects communications on Twitter, just as it would any other media," she said. |
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