First PCC ruling on Tweet republication: complaint not upheld

The PCC has not upheld a civil servant’s complaints about the republication of her Tweets by the Daily Mail and the Independent on Sunday.

In the first ruling of its kind, the PCC “concluded that the newspapers’ actions did not constitute “an unjustifiable intrusion” into the complainant’s privacy.”

Ms Sarah Baskerville complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article headlined “Oh please, stop this twit from Tweeting, someone”, published in the Daily Mail on 13 November 2010, intruded into her privacy in breach of Clause 3 Privacy and was misleading in breach of Clause 1 Accuracy of the Editors’ Code of Practice. The complaint was not upheld.

…. Additional  complaints against both newspapers about alleged breaches of Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Code were also rejected.

“This is an important ruling by the Commission,” said Stephen Abell, PCC director.

“As more and more people make use of such social media to publish material related to their lives, the Commission is increasingly being asked to make judgements about what can legitimately be described as private information. In this case, the Commission decided that republication of material by national newspapers, even though it was originally intended for a smaller audience, did not constitute a privacy intrusion.”

Full Daily Mail ruling at this link…

Full Independent on Sunday ruling at this link…

This entry was posted in blogging, media regulation, press freedom, social networking and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to First PCC ruling on Tweet republication: complaint not upheld

  1. Pingback: Tweets that mention First PCC ruling on Tweet republication: not upheld | media law & ethics -- Topsy.com

  2. Pingback: Midweek media law mop up: Twitter in court consultation; PCC’s Twitter ruling; Twitter in Supreme Court (bored yet?) | media law & ethics

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