The Impact Of Social Media On Criminal Justice System

Threat

The original call for evidence asked for examples of trials being affected by social media commentary and evidence of anonymity orders or reporting restrictions being breached via social media. 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.

The Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, explained:

'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.'

Con...