Since I have often blogged about the role of the internet and micro-blogs such as twitter I felt it important to mention two articles I have read. Both relate to twitter and both relate to possible criminal offences.

The first article is written by the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve and it concerns the footballer Joey Barton tweeting about the allegations about John Terry's racist comments. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/08/contempt-of-court-ac.... Dominic Grieve points out that although contempt laws are old, contempt via the internet still fits within the ambit of such legislation. The wording used in the legislation is that information must be 'a publication' and Grieve argues that information posted on the internet that is read by thousands, even millions, is published.

The second article concerns a twitter message threatening to blow up Doncaster airport. http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/feb/08/judgment-reserved-twitter-thre.... The comment was supposedly a joke but we have yet to see how this case develops as the judges have currently retired to consider whether the statement was a joke or a threat to society.