London, Oct. 26 (ANI): Twitter users who re-tweet 'grossly offensive' comments could be prosecuted in the UK, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has warned.
In an address to London School of Economics on the issue of social media, DPP Keir Starmer QC responded to an audience member who asked: "Is it an offence to re-tweet something grossly offensive?"
"You re-tweet, you commit an offence under the Act," he said.
According to the Telegraph, the offence falls under Section 127 of the Communications Act, which outlaws sending a tweet that is 'grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character'.
Twitter users have been prosecuted for sending offensive tweets; however, so far no action has been taken against anyone who has re-tweeted such a tweet.
The DPP noted that the threshold for criminality would be high in such a case.
"The importance of free speech has to be recognised and our discretion applied," he said, adding: "I understand anxiety of Twitter community. Free speech is very important and the threshold for criminality must be high". (ANI)
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