Offensive or controversial messages posted to social networks might not lead to prosecution if users show a little remorse, the U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Service said today.
In a 14-page guide (PDF) published today on prosecuting cases related to social-media use, the CPS said that while some posters might publish "grossly offensive, obscene, or false" information on Twitter or Facebook that they could be prosecuted for, they can escape such issues if they quickly remove it from the site.
"If a message is taken down very swiftly and there is remorse, then it may not be proportionate to have a criminal prosecution," Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions, said today in an interview with the Guardian. "It is not a defense that you have sobered up, but it is relevant that whatever the material was, it was taken down pretty quickly when the person realized it was inappropriate."
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