June 07, 2011
Users of the social networking site Twitter should be careful about what they ‘tweet’. The site owners have recently been forced to hand over the personal details of an account holder to a UK council to enable the council to bring action against the user for libel.
The councilor allegedly posted libelous comments about the council under an anonymous Twitter account. Libel can occur where a public statement causes a person to be exposed to hatred or ridicule, to be shunned, disparaged in his/her work or lowered in the estimation of right-thinking" members of society, subject to various defences, for example for true statements of fact or fair comment.
The release of the personal information has caused controversy as being contrary to principles of freedom of speech and data protection. Some commentators are also concerned that it will provoke a flood of similar demands for the personal details of users accused of libel or breach of injunctions. The site is permitted to disclose such information in accordance with its terms and conditions when required to do so by law.
The case may affect the outcome of a recent application for the personal details of Twitter users who posted private information about the footballer Ryan Giggs, which breached the terms of a super injunction forbidding the information from being made public. This application has not yet been resolved.
Users of social networking sites should be careful that what they post is not libelous or otherwise against the law, for example by containing racist or offensive remarks. Employers should also carefully monitor their employees’ use of such sites and if necessary, ban them during working hours so that they are not made vicariously liable for their employee’s comments.
