Declan Ganley, businessman and political activist, recently brought a defamation action against blogger Kevin Barrington in respect of a number of defamatory tweets described by Mr. Ganley as "grossly offensive and personal".
The claim was settled on the basis of the following tweeted apology; "I wish to unreservedly apologise to Declan Ganley for my tweets of 12th December 2012." Mr Barrington said on his blog and Twitter account.;"To reflect my regret I have made a substantial donation to the Poor Clares".
Student fails to impose "super injunction" on national newspapers
A student who was wrongly identified in a YouTube clip as being the man guilty of running away without paying a taxi fare, failed last year to satisfy the High Court that six national newspapers had breached the terms of injunctions he had obtained against Facebook, Google and YouTube.
The injunctions directed the removal of the offending clip from a number of websites, including YouTube and "other parties with notice of the making of the orders". It also prohibited reposting of the video and naming the student, Eoin McKeogh.
Mr McKeogh subsequently argued that six newspapers breached the terms of the injunctions by identifying him in court reports relating to his court application, as they fell within the meaning of "other parties with notice of the making of the orders". He also sought to prevent the newspapers from identifying him in any future reporting of his case.
The newspapers successfully opposed the application by arguing that they did not fall within the remit of the injunction orders. The media successfully also argued that any restriction on their right to court report, and in particular any restriction to prevent them from identifying Mr McKeogh as the applicant for the injunctions, was unconstitutional in the context of this claim.
The court sympathised with Mr McKeogh, but ruled against him. According to Judge Peart, the right to have justice administered in public exceeded the right to privacy save in exceptional cases, and this was not such a case. The court also felt that it was counterintuitive that someone would try to vindicate his good name anonymously as the damage had already been done and the "genie was out of the bottle".
UK courts jail internet trolls
Internet trolls are fast becoming an increasing problem across all social media platforms. An internet troll posts inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages online with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or otherwise causing controversy.
There have been a number of recent cases in the UK involving racist attacks against footballers via Twitter, resulting in both jail time and community orders. There have also been a number of individuals jailed in the UK for inciting rioting online. UK courts have adopted a zero tolerance approach to these cases, through the application of harsh penalties and long jail terms. It is hoped and expected that the Irish courts will follow this example.
Sex offender obtains High Court Order to remove webpage
In December 2012, a convicted sex offender secured a High Court interim injunction in Belfast directing the removal of a social media web page monitoring paedophiles in Northern Ireland. Judge McCloskey was tasked with balancing the competing rights of privacy and freedom of expression. He ruled that the online page, called "Keeping our kids safe from predators", amounted to harassment of the man and infringed his rights to privacy and freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment.
The convicted sex offender, who was granted anonymity for the purposes of the application, was at the time of the application out of prison 'on licence' having served a 6 year prison sentence for offences committed two decades ago.
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