Media law and social media

Judith TownendCentre for Law, Justice and Journalism

City University Londonhttp://meejalaw.com

Traditional news orgs…

• ‘Night lawyers’: specialised legal professionals to check copy at the last minute

• In-house lawyers• Journalists with media law training • Legal insurance? • Willing to take risks (can make payouts)• High profile and well-connected

But new sites are springing up…

• Hyperlocal sites• Community news projects• Consumer blogs • Student blogs • Online chat/debate forums• ‘User-generated content’ (UGC)• Social networking

So what about media law…?

It applies to everyone, ‘journalist’ or notMore areas to consider than ever:- defamation, contempt, copyright, privacy- Communications Act 2003, Sexual Offences

(Amendment) Act 1992, Malicious Communications Act 1988see CPS consultation

Everyone’s a publisher now

• You might only have a few followers and have restricted your privacy settings, but your social media updates are ‘publications’ and therefore you need to educate yourself about basic media law dos and don’ts, around areas such as defamation (libel/slander), breach of privacy and confidence, copyright and contempt of court

Limited data but…Criminal• 653 people charged with

crimes involving Twitter and Facebook in 2012

• 4,908 reports of offences related to Facebook and Twitter in 2012

(source: PA Media Lawyer, December 2012)

• 9 people plead guilty to naming rape victim on Twitter and Facebook - offence under the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 (BBC, November 2012)

Civil• Numerous reports of

bloggers and social media users receiving threats of defamation claims

• Several defamation cases involving small social media profiles (eg. Cairns v Modi)

• McAlpine settlements with tweeters

Libel and privacy

• Defamation: Protects individuals’ professional and personal reputations but there are various defences available to publishers. It is called libel in its permanent form (including tweets, Facebook updates, emails…)

• Privacy: arising from law of breach of confidence, now a separate cause of action under Article 8, Human Rights Act 1998

Survey

• How confident do you feel about media law and what are your experiences?

Please visit: http://bit.ly/cardiffsurvey

Survey - 2010

• For ‘small’ or independent publishers based in the UK:– What legal resources do you use?– What legal encounters have you experienced?– Do you feel there are enough resources available

to you?• Survey conducted using Google Docs; self-

selecting group of participant• 71 responses

The results

On legal trouble…

• Of the 19 online writers who were contacted over a legal matter in the last two years (27 per cent), only seven sought legal advice, which was paid for in four instances. The remaining 12 dealt with it alone.

• Only two of the cases reached court. For six of the publishers, the case was dropped at an earlier stage. Two published corrections or clarifications. Nine involved payment and/or removal of material, although in two cases this was only partial removal of material.

On legal resources…

• 71 respondents were completely divided: 46% said they did not think there was enough legal information and advice at hand; 54% said there was an adequate amount.

• But the overall picture contrasted with answers from those who had encountered legal trouble in the last two years: only 32% of those 19 respondents felt they were able to access adequate legal information, 68% did not.

Resources used…

• Of the respondents who cited the resources they used, the most popular was McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists, with 17 respondents mentioning the law title

“McNae’s for frontline advice,” one said. “I ring the NUJ if I need further help.”

On what they want…

• A mixed reaction, but some felt they’d like to see some kind of additional legal support:

“I think there’s a real case, nonetheless, for an organisation that serves to help small-scale online publishers with legal cases when they do arise. I’d say that this shouldn’t be restricted to ‘professional journalists’, since one’s professionalism or otherwise doesn’t have much bearing any more on how often/much you publish and how much trouble you can get yourself into!”

More research is *still* needed

• How many online publishers have legal insurance?

• How much do publishers actually know about the law?

• How many online publishers are directly affected by legal threats (criminal and civil)?

• Can some kind of organisational support be developed? What shape should it take?

• What role for Public Legal Education?

Key resources

While media law can be confusing and often unclear, there are plenty of resources out there. Spend some time reading the key online guides and get hold of a copy of a basic and up-to-date textbook like McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists

Q: What resources do you use?

Training

Training in media law will not only help you protect yourself against legal action but it will help you maintain your right to freedom of expression, which includes the right to receive as well as impart information

It’s changing

The civil and criminal law around blogging and social media isn’t set in stone: try and keep up to date with media law news – new legislation as well as case law - so that you are well-informed about latest developments

Resources - guides• BBC College of Journalism Law guide,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/collegeofjournalism/law• Centre for Investigative Journalism guide to libel,

http://www.tcij.org/resources/handbooks/libel• David Price Solicitors & Advocates’ guide to media law,

http://www.lawyers-media.com/a-guide-to-media-law/• McNae’s student resources,

http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199211548/• Media Trust Local360 Network, Law, Ethics and Funding guide,

http://local360network.mediatrust.org/howto/law-ethics-and-funding• Sense About Science guide to libel law for bloggers,

http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/bloggers-and-libel-law.html• More at: http://meejalaw.com/useful-links/

Resources – organisations• Article 19, http://www.article19.org/• Citizens’ Advice Bureau, http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/• Early Resolution, http://www.earlyresolution.co.uk/• English PEN, http://www.englishpen.org/• Index on Censorship, http://www.indexoncensorship.org/• Information Commissioner’s Office, http://www.ico.gov.uk/• JUSTICE, http://www.justice.org.uk/• Media Legal Defence Initiative, http://www.mediadefence.org/• National Union of Journalists, http://www.nuj.org.uk/• National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ),

http://www.nctj.com/• Out-Law.com, http://www.out-law.com• Sense About Science, http://www.senseaboutscience.org

Further reading• Speech by Lord Justice Leveson (7 December 2012) ‘Privacy and the

Internet’, http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/media/speeches/2012/lj-leveson-speech-privacy-internet-07122012

• Index on Censorship / English PEN report, ‘Free Speech is Not For Sale’ (2009), http://www.libelreform.org/our-report

• Blogging and Tweeting Without Getting Sued by Mark Pearson (2012)

• Covering Criminal Courts: A Survival Guide by Sarah Chapman (2011)• McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists, 21st edition by Mark Hanna

and Mike Dodd (2012)• Media law and blogging research by Judith Townend (2010),

http://meejalaw.com/project2010/

Meeja Law & Twitter

@jtownend / @meejalaw / @medialawUK

Thank you!

http://meejalaw.comhttp://city.ac.uk/lawjusticejournalism

Any questions?• jt.townend@gmail.com• http://jtownend.com• @jtownend / @meejalaw