IT IS TIME TO PUT TWITTER IN THE DOCK

I think Mr. Murdoch would feel insulted, LL. Couldn't he use something else? Like his useless leaflets?

lily wrote:I think Mr. Murdoch would feel insulted, LL. Couldn't he use something else? Like his useless leaflets?

If this could insult murdock then that's the first positive thing shopping trolley man has done in his disastrous life! But will the ink come off his leaflets when they get damp? LL

bb1 wrote:

Peer to sue tweeters who linked him to sex abuse as BBC pays £185,000 damages


Lord McAlpine has promised to end “trial by Twitter” by announcing an unprecedented series of libel actions against people who used the website to link him wrongly to child abuse allegations.

By Steven Swinford and Gordon Rayner10:00PM GMT 15 Nov 2012

The former Conservative Party treasurer said yesterday that he had been “terrified” when he became “a figure of public hatred” because of people naming him as the subject of a Newsnight report wrongly claiming a senior Tory was a paedophile.
Sally Bercow, the wife of the Speaker of the Commons, and George Monbiot, a columnist for the Guardian are among those who will be pursued by Lord McAlpine for using the microblogging site to tweet his name after the Newsnight programme was broadcast.
Lord McAlpine’s solicitor, Andrew Reid, said the “nasty” tweets would “cost people a lot of money”, warning the guilty parties: “We know who you are.”
He added: “Twitter is not just a closed coffee shop among friends. It goes out to hundreds of thousands of people and you must take responsibility for it.
“It is not a place where you can gossip and say things with impunity, and we are about to demonstrate that.”

Lord McAlpine’s lawyers have hired a team of experts to collate the offending Twitter messages, including those that have been deleted, as well as so-called “re-tweets” in which one user republishes a message posted by someone else.
The action was described as “unprecedented” by Lord Woolf, the former lord chief justice, who added that there was no reason Twitter users should be treated differently from newspapers that published defamatory comments.

In his first interview since Newsnight’s infamous broadcast of Nov 2, Lord McAlpine told the BBC that he had been “shattered” when his name was “spread all over the world” by users of Twitter and other internet sites.
He said: “Suddenly to find yourself a figure of public hatred — unjustifiably — is terrifying.”
The 70-year-old, who has heart trouble, said the settlements he was seeking from Twitter users would be “a warning: don’t go there”.
Sources close to Lord McAlpine told The Daily Telegraph that about a dozen Twitter users were likely to be targeted. They include Iain Overton, the former editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, who sent out a tweet before the Newsnight investigation, suggesting a senior Tory would be exposed as a paedophile that night.
Although he did not name anyone, his tweet helped to create an online frenzy in which Lord McAlpine’s name was widely circulated even before the programme was broadcast.
The allegations were later withdrawn after the former care home resident who made them, Steve Messham, admitted he had made a mistake.
Mr Reid, Lord McAlpine’s solicitor, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: “We have been inundated by the public who have wanted us to deal with this problem of Twitter. We have been watching people who have been taking down what they put on Twitter. What they don’t seem to understand is that once it’s there you can’t take it down. And, what’s more, we already have all the information. We have managed to find a couple of firms of experts who have managed to produce the pre-tweets, the post tweets, the effect of the tweets and the re-tweets. What starts at one ends up as 100,000 or more in some cases.
“Let it be a lesson to everybody that trial by Twitter or trial by the internet is a very nasty way of hurting people unnecessarily and it will cost people a lot of money.”
Appealing to those who had tweeted Lord McAlpine’s name to come forward, he added: “Some of them are well known. I would say Mrs Bercow would be one. She hasn’t been in touch.”
Mrs Bercow, who has 57,000 Twitter followers, tweeted after the broadcast: “Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *innocent face*.” Yesterday she wrote: “I guess I’d better get some legal advice then. Still maintain was not a libellous tweet — just foolish.” Mr Monbiot, who has 55,000 followers, has apologised twice for tweeting Lord McAlpine’s name.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/9681881/Peer-to-sue-tweeters-who-linked-him-to-sex-abuse-as-BBC-pays-185000-damages.html

Lord McAlpine’s solicitor, Andrew Reid, said the “nasty” tweets would “cost people a lot of money”, warning the guilty parties: “We know who you are.”
He added: “Twitter is not just a closed coffee shop among friends. It goes out to hundreds of thousands of people and you must take responsibility for it.
“It is not a place where you can gossip and say things with impunity, and we are about to demonstrate that.”

Sounds like men on a mission?

In case it is not sinking in with someone who defamed a man on Twitter....

Peer's revenge over Twitter slurs: McAlpine will sue internet gossips as BBC pays him £185,000 damages following Newsnight report

Tory peer 'terrified' by BBC's false implication that he abused children

Terms of the agreement will be announced in court in a few days' time
And lawyers will sue ANYONE who named him on Twitter


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2233240/Peers-revenge-Twitter-slurs-McAlpine-sue-internet-gossips-BBC-pays-185-000-damages-following-Newsnight-report.html#ixzz2CMtTY9xa
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

I think the reason why he has settled for £185,000 is to make a serious point. He doesn't need the money, so I think he's been very reasonable in not demanding £millions. He will get what is, I think, most important to him, acceptance that he was traduced, that his reputation was shafted and also given a strong signal to others who may try the same game that his is not a lone case; others will look to the courts when they are unjustly accused and vilified online. I salute him for what he has done. LL

Rothley Pillowcase ™ ‏@RothleyPillow
@smessham Myself & a LOTTA people support you More people will come forward because of you The UK Establishment is s***ting it now #mccann

Just what he needs, support from that foul-mouthed lunatic.

My my! Bennett appears to have deleted that tweet! Worried about something, is he?

He needn't worry. They made it crystal clear that when people did that, it was too late. They already had the information.

bb1 wrote:My my! Bennett appears to have deleted that tweet! Worried about something, is he?

Worry not, I have the original

Hasn't he got to contact them and make an offer? I wonder how much that bit of libel is worth?

crazytony wrote:

bb1 wrote:My my! Bennett appears to have deleted that tweet! Worried about something, is he?

Worry not, I have the original

Me too!

http://thehoundingofthemccans.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-social-network.html

Well said, Tony!

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/People/article1165363.ece


Top comic faces Twitter revenge of McAlpine

Robin Henry and David Leppard Published: 18 November 2012
Comment (35) Print
Alan Davies: he could be sued (Tony Briggs)
THE former Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies is among thousands of Twitter users who could be sued by Lord McAlpine after mentioning false child abuse allegations about the Tory peer on the social networking site.

Lawyers said the McAlpine case could potentially involve the largest number of defendants in British legal history. Davies, who appears on the BBC2 panel show QI, asked his 440,000 followers on Twitter “Any clues as to who this Tory paedophile is . . . ?” before retweeting a response naming McAlpine.

His comments were made amid intense speculation about the identity of a senior Conservative wrongly accused of child abuse on BBC2’s Newsnight programme. Davies last night declined to comment. Lawyers for McAlpine, 70, have announced legal action for libel against a “very long list” of those who repeated the false claims using Twitter

-----------

Serves Davies right - I hadn't seen that one, but it is, IMO, one of the worst. And the rest of the piece is behind a paywall, but it fades out with a line about 'retweets', etc.

among thousands of Twitter users who could be sued by Lord McAlpine

Ahem

Wonder when Bennett's going to own up to His Lordship's lawyers?

I doubt that Bennett is man enough to do that.

Must be terrible to be so eaten up with resentment of successful people.

I wonder how many of those are hounders?

Daily Mirror

Tweet revenge: Tory to sue 10,000 Twitter users who branded him a paedo
19 Nov 2012 00:00

Pay up, twits: Lord McAlpine will also go after celebrities for untrue pervert accusations




Celebrity Twitter users were last night bracing themselves for a barrage of lawsuits from Lord McAlpine after he was wrongly accused on the social network site of being a child molester.

The Tory grandee is expected to sue at least 10,000 people over the malicious claims that appeared in the wake of a BBC Newsnight investigation into a paedophile ring at care homes in North Wales.

And he could hit high-profile tweeters such as Speaker’s wife Sally Bercow and comedian Alan Davies who both mentioned the peer on their accounts. The sensational move could involve the largest number of defendants in British legal history.





Former Tory Party treasurer Lord McAlpine has hired a team of experts who have collated a “very long list” of people and their offending messages, even those that have been deleted. More than 1,000 original tweets and 9,000 retweets have already been identified.

His solicitor Andrew Reid said: “We have been watching people who have been taking down what they put on Twitter.

“We already have all the information. We have found a couple of firms of experts who have produced pretweets, post-tweets, the effect of the tweets and the retweets. What starts at one ends up as 100,000 in some cases.

“Twitter is not just a closed coffee shop among friends. It goes out to hundreds of thousands of people and you must take responsibility for it. It is not a place where you can gossip and say things with impunity, and we are about to demonstrate that.”

Around 40 people have approached Lord McAlpine’s legal team to apologise and have paid a nominal fee in damages, believed to be £5. Lawyers are thought to want the small amount for most of the cases with the cash going to a children’s charity.

Twitter became the hub of fevered ­speculation before the Newsnight programme was screened. Reporter Iain Overton sparked the frenzy by tweeting a senior Tory would be exposed as a paedophile that night.

The programme did not name Lord McAlpine. It later emerged that he was the victim of mistaken identity and innocent of the claims. He said the episode left him “shattered”.

QI star Davies asked his 440,000 followers on November 3 “Any clues as to who this Tory paedophile is.... ?” before retweeting a response naming Lord McAlpine. John Bercow’s wife apologised for her part in falsely ­identifying the peer as a paedophile but said her actions were not libellous. She tweeted: “Had letter from Lord McA. His lawyers ambulance chasers tbh #bigbullies. My tweet not libellous but I don’t have money to contest a ­multi-millionaire. Lord McA falsely accused but not by me. I never said Lord McAlpine p­aedophile.”

Her lawyers contacted his legal team on Friday but the meeting was not productive and she has been given one last chance to settle. A source said: “They tried to say she didn’t really mean any harm. We’ve sent them a letter before action.” The BBC has apologised to Lord McAlpine and paid him £185,000 damages plus costs. Twitter itself can avoid being sued under the “innocent dissemination” defence, media law expert David Banks said last night.

He added: “As it cannot know the content of every message, it cannot be held liable for the sharing of potentially libellous comments.”

- Rrussell Brand, 37, yesterday said the Jimmy Savile case meant he and Jonathan Ross were no longer “the BBC’s biggest ­embarrassment” over their lewd 2008 Radio Two prank call to actor Andrew Sachs. He made the comment in a happy birthday tweet to Wossy that ended: “#howsaboutthatthen?”

Wonder when Bennett will get his letter?

Look who's grovelling:

MOM OF TWO ‏@GILLYSPOT
Dear Lord McAlpine I am very sorry for my unkind tweets regarding you. It was very wrong of me to do this & I hope you accept my apology

I'll bet she does

bb1 wrote:Look who's grovelling:

MOM OF TWO ‏@GILLYSPOT
Dear Lord McAlpine I am very sorry for my unkind tweets regarding you. It was very wrong of me to do this & I hope you accept my apology

I'll bet she does

Too late. How much is she going to have to pay?

He seems to be being very reasonable with those who own up, Sabot - an apology and modest donation to charity appears to be acceptable, though gillytroll seems to have missed that bit.

Some culprits are deluding themselves that it is difficult to track down who said what on twitter - no, it isn't, it's the work of minutes, seconds even, with appropriate software.