Acorn Newsbot
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A man has been jailed for twelve weeks for posting offensive comments on Facebook about missing five year old April Jones.
The case of 19 year old Matthew Woods, who was sentenced by Chorley Magistrates Court this week, shows how seriously online comments are being taken by Police and the courts with some very real consequences.
In another case recently, a man was arrested in connection with setting up a Facebook page in support of the alleged killer of two Police officers in Manchester.
These are both extreme examples but many of us could be accidentally breaking the law online. Research commissioned by Knowthenet found that only 44% of people could correctly spot illegal activities when given a number of scenarios.
A simple way to check your own understanding of how the law applies online is to take our free online test which also gives helpful advice on how to stay out of trouble.
Facebook has also made it easier for users to report concerns about posts with the introduction of a ‘support dashboard’ and improvements to their help centre.
These simple steps should help you to stay legal online:-
- When you log-on, don’t let your common sense log-off! Something said in the heat of the moment could have unpleasant consequences.
- If you are going to say something negative about someone online, be absolutely sure it is true before you publish.
- Don’t post jokes online that might be seen to encourage people to do anything illegal or violent.
- Just because everyone else is talking about a topic doesn’t mean it’s legal to do so – if there’s any doubt, it’s best to say nowt!
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