PCC Ruling: Twitter, Journalism and Privacy

Sarah Baskerville complained to the Press Complaints Commission that an article in the “Daily Mail” on 13 November 2010 intruded into her privacy.  The article was entitled “Oh please stop this twit from Tweeting, someone“.  The article reported that Ms Baskerville – a civil servant who worked for the Department for Transport – had been using Twitter to describe aspects of her job and her feelings towards her work. 

Case Law: Donaldson v United Kingdom, no violation of Article 10

The recent critics of Strasbourg judicial activism will, doubtless, be pleased by the Court’s latest Article 10 decision.  Free speech campaigners may have more mixed views.  In the case of Donaldson v United Kingdom ([2011] ECHR 210) the Fourth Section held that the application of a serving Republican prisoner alleging a violation of his rights under Article 10 and Article 14 (discrimination) was inadmissible.