The government’s response to its Call
for Evidence on the impact of social media on criminal
trials (PDF, 114KB, 16
pages) has revealed that social media
doesn’t currently pose a serious threat.
The
Call asked for examples of trials being affected
by social media commentary, and evidence of anonymity
orders or reporting restrictions being breached via social
media.
Individuals from across the criminal justice system, as
well as members of the public, media organisations and
academics were consulted and agreed that, although the risk
has increased in recent years, social media does not yet
pose a serious threat to the criminal justice system.
Commenting on the Call for Evidence, the Solicitor General,
QC MP said:
Every defendant in this country is entitled to a fair
trial where a verdict is delivered based on the evidence
heard in court.
We launched this Call for Evidence with the goal of
discovering whether the legal process was at risk due to
social media, and whether people working in the criminal
justice system have the tools they need to manage that
risk. I am pleased to say that our respondents reported
that this risk is relatively minor, and that they are
already confident that they can mitigate the risk where
it does arise. We need to guard against any future
proliferation of the threat, however.
Social media users must think before they post – the
rules are the same as those for traditional media, and
being found in contempt of court could result in a fine
or up to two years in prison.
One area of concern was that some social media users are
unaware of reporting restrictions and of what would
constitute a breach of an anonymity order or contempt of
court. Therefore, social media posts which are in contempt
of court or which identify someone subject to an anonymity
order are not uncommon. This has the potential to put
trials at risk, as it could prejudice parties involved in
the case, such as jurors, although cases where this has
occurred have so far been rare.
To address these concerns, a new ‘Contempt of Court’
webpage on GOV.UKhas been launched to promote the safe
use of social media by clearly and accessibly explaining
the risks and implications of using social media to
undermine the administration of justice.
To further mitigate the risk of juries becoming prejudiced,
the Judicial Office has begun work to produce new,
comprehensive guidance on contempt for jurors. However,
members of the judiciary reported that they are confident
that they already have access to the tools necessary to
mitigate the effects of prejudicial social media posts,
although there was some concern about the delay that these
can cause to the trial process.
Notes to editors
- The Call for Evidence was launched in September 2017,
under the previous Attorney General QC MP.
- The Call for Evidence requested examples of active
proceedings in which social media had an impact, breaches
of reporting restrictions, and other thematic concerns.
- The Contempt of Court Act 1981 provides the framework
for what can be published in order to ensure that legal
proceedings are fair and that the rights of those involved
in them are properly protected.
