Twitter and the use of other social media may be prejudicing criminal trials, the government’s chief law officer warns today.
Jeremy Wright, QC, the attorney-general, said that one trial has already been stopped because of social media comment and there is concern over whether the current law is “fit for purpose” to deal with the issue.
“The established media understand the rules on contempt of court but I am concerned to establish if there is a wider issue with social media,” he said.
Mr Wright today begins an inquiry into the impact of social media on criminal trials and is seeking evidence from judges, lawyers and victims’ groups. A trial in 2016 of two teenage girls for murder in Hartlepool was halted after the second