The issues raised by the Twitter Joke case have been gone over so thoroughly that, as is so often in public debate, only the obvious question remains undiscussed and unanswered: whatever happened to the right to free speech? The Human Rights Act guarantees it. Article 10 states:
‘Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.’
That this is a new type of free speech case is beyond doubt to my mind.
I’ve an essay in the current issue of Standpoint on how the web is providing the authorities and employers with ineradicable evidence they can take down and use against their targets. Paul Chambers’ case is the best example of how, far from setting people free, the web is trapping them.
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