ABSTRACT
Social media networks have become host to a series of legal breaches in recent years, due to a lack of media law knowledge by the public. Tommy Robinson, founder of the far-right English Defence League, was jailed for 13 months in 2018 for contempt of court. Any individual or company can sue for damages to their reputation caused by material broadcast or published to a third party, including material published online, as long as they are identifiable. In journalism, issues of copyright breach arise when contents, such as photographs or entire sections of news text or broadcast footage, are used without permission. However, in the UK it is lawful to use or reproduce work without permission under the fair usage, or fair dealing, rule.
