ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with practical examples from social media and the internet in relation to hate speech, trolling and sexting, causing people harassment, alarm and distress in their daily lives and the laws governing some of these activities in the UK. It looks at the impartiality of the media, the responsibility of editors and operators of websites and whether online news publications should be regulated. Communications via social networking sites or mobile phones that are considered grossly offensive, indecent or obscene (known as ‘sexting’) are treated particularly seriously by the prosecution authorities (CPS) and tend to attract a custodial sentence. Social media gives the public unprecedented access, particularly to those in public life, such as politicians, celebrities and members of the Royal Family. While public figures could just simply disengage from social media, they lose the benefits of communicating with their audience or in case of politicians, with their voters and constituents.
