The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has ruled that messages posted on unprotected Twitter accounts aren't private.
In other news, I think I just saw a bear disappearing into the woods with a newspaper tucked under his arm.
Of course comments posted on Twitter aren't private. That's kind of the point. But the PCC was forced to rule on this issue after a Department of Transport employee, Sarah Baskerville, complained about news stories in the Daily Mail and Independent on Sunday which had included comments she made on Twitter.
Baskerville's tweets may not have been cut and pasted straight from her 'employee of the year' entry form, including as they did comments about being hungover at work, calling a trainer "mental" and criticising the government for its cuts, but they were hardly jaw-dropping revelations either. In fact they were pretty safe and considered in the grand scheme of much of the chatter on Twitter.
Baskerville subsequently complained to the PCC that the publication of her tweets was a breach of privacy, adding that the comments were meant only for her 700 followers (which may or may not have included random porn-bots, spammers and tabloid journalists, such is the open nature of Twitter).
She'd have had more luck claiming night was day.
But what is clear from this case is that while Twitter may be public and therefore anything said should of course be considered 'on the record', that doesn't mean it's always newsworthy or in the public interest (even once the Mail has distorted comments to make them sound far more interesting or inflammatory than they really are).
After all:
- Woman doesn't like government cuts: Shocker!
- Exclusive: Office worker starts day with hangover
- 'My figure of speech hell': Person branded "mental" wasn't really!
These are not news stories.
What Baskerville fell victim to wasn't an invasion of privacy, it was lazy journalism.
Perhaps if she had been a Minister within the Department - or even a D-list celebrity trying to shoehorn themselves into a story, any story - then her on-the-record comments might have warranted a minor news item, but she wasn't.
The PCC - not the most effective organisation at the best of times - was put in a tricky position however, given this ruling would set a precedent. It's only option was to rule that of course comments on unprotected Twitter accounts should be considered public domain. But that shouldn't absent newspapers from a responsible approach to newsgathering and the stories they run.
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