Crown reveals policy for social media prosecutions
Guidance on when to bring criminal charges arising out of social media communications has been published today by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC summed it up by saying: “The rule of thumb is simple – if it would be illegal to say it on the street, it is illegal to say it online."
The four main categories of behaviour that prosecutors have identified are:
- communications which specifically target an individual or group of individuals, in particular communications which are considered to be hate crime, domestic abuse, or stalking;
- communications which may constitute credible threats of violence to the person, damage to property or to incite public disorder;
- communications which may amount to a breach of a court order or contravene legislation making it a criminal offence to release or publish information relating to proceedings;
- communications which do not fall into the above categories but are nonetheless considered to be grossly offensive, indecent or obscene, or involve the communication of false information about an individual or group of individuals which results in adverse consequences for that individual or group of individuals.
COPFS said that while the Lord Advocate previously explained where the legal boundary lay, particularly in the run up to the independence referendum, it had chosen to publish the guidance "to ensure there is absolute clarity both in terms of our approach and the difference between criminal and non-criminal communications".
It added: "We want to take the opportunity to reassure the public that we take these offences as seriously as crimes committed in person. A robust approach is and will continue to be taken in Scotland to communications posted via social media if they are criminal in content, in the same way as such communications uttered or published in the non-virtual world would be handled.
"It is important to note that there is no danger to freedom of speech, and we will not be prosecuting people for satirical comments, offensive humour or provocative statements.
"As with any other offence, prosecutors may only instigate criminal proceedings where there is sufficient credible and reliable evidence and it is in the public interest to do so."
Mr Mulholland commented: “Those who use the internet to peddle hate or abuse, to harass, to blackmail, or any other number of crimes, need to know that they cannot evade justice simply by hiding behind their computers or mobile phones.
“I hope this serves as a wake up call to them.
“As prosecutors we will continue to do all in our power to bring those who commit these crimes to justice, and I would encourage anyone who thinks they have been victim of such a crime to report it to the Police.”