David Allen Green, head of the media practice at London-based law firm Preiskel & Co and legal correspondent of the New Statesman magazine, has been blogging about the return of the ‘Twitter joke trial’ to the High Court. The result of the appeal hearing for Paul Chambers, who is represented by Mr Green, is significant as it will impact the way in which criminal law is applied to social media.
Mr Chambers, on 6 January 2010, tweeted: ‘Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!’
Context is important, says Mr Green, ‘however, context is not everything’. According to Mr Green, paying close attention to Mr Chambers’ tweet ‘shows the correct context is provided by informal communications on social media and not terrorism. ‘Paul’s tweet was not intended to be taken seriously, as both the text and its true context would show.’
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