Chilling effect: BBC libel suit spills over to Twitter

In what could be a chilling effect for tweeps, the prospect of a libel suit threatens as many as 10,000 Twitter users over comments they posted or forwarded in connection with a report wrongly linking a former British government official to child abuse.

 

While the British Broadcasting Co. and ITV have settled the row with Alistair McAlpine, a former Conservative Party official, the legal row threatens to continue and extend to Twitter users who commented or forwarded comments.

 

McAlpine's camp indicated it may seek libel damages from at least 20 high-profile Twitter users, UK's The Guardian reported.

 

“This could have a chilling effect. I know people who have said that they are not going to post as much because of this,” The New York Times quoted Paul Bernal, a lecturer in media law at the University of East Anglia, as saying of the McAlpine case.

 

“Many people have had their reputations trashed on Twitter before, but nobody has decided to take action on this scale,” added Tim Lowles, a media lawyer at Collyer Bristow in London.

 

The NYT noted that while the BBC report on Nov. 2 did not name McAlpine, there were clues that led Twitter users to identify him.

 

BBC settled a libel claim, paying McAlpine £185,000 (nearly $300,000) and apologized for the error as a case of mistaken identity.

 

ITV also agreed to pay McAlpine £125,000 to settle another claim - over a subsequent broadcast in which a list purporting to show Conservative figures linked to sex abuse accusations had been visible to viewers.

 

But last Nov. 23, McAlpine did not stop with the mainstream media, with his lawyers having identified at least 20 “high-profile tweeters” from whom they would seek libel damages.

 

The Guardian said these include comedian Alan Davies; Sally Bercow, the wife of John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons; and George Monbiot, a Guardian columnist.

 

Bercow's account, which had more than 50,000 followers, had already disappeared, NYT noted.

 

Broadest libel campaign yet?

 

The NYT report said that while there have been previous libel suits over comments posted on Twitter, the campaign by McAlpine appears to be the broadest yet.

 

Aside from the high-profile Twitter users, McAlpine is reportedly pursuing action against thousands of other Twitter users.

 

These include people who merely repeated to their own followers the comments made by others.

 

McAlpine's law firm, RMPI, has offered to create a website where Twitter users with fewer than 500 online followers can "apologize and make contact” to settle their cases.

 

“It is not this firm or Lord McAlpine’s intention to create any hardship,” NYT quoted letter posted on the site as saying.

 

Charity

 

Those who respond to the website are reportedly asked to make donations to charity, along with a “small administrative charge.”

 

But NYT noted it could be time-consuming to track down the Twitter users, adding many Twitter accounts are registered anonymously or under fake names.

 

Also, Twitter considers itself a conduit for users but disavows responsibility for the content they post.

 

“Most people still don’t think when they write something on Twitter that they are actually publishing. Whether or not this will act as a deterrent, I don’t know. People should think before they tweet,” Lowles said. — TJD, GMA News