A legal expert has warned that Sally Bercow and other Twitter users “may come to regret their tweets” after Lord McAlpine threatened to take legal action against those who wrongly implied he was a paedophile.
Paul Jonson, head of dispute resolution at law firm Pannone, said the site’s users should remember that “a defamatory comment on Twitter is just the same as a defamatory comment on the front page of The Sun” as Lord McAlpine begins legal proceedings.
Bercow, the wife of the Commons Speaker, today apologised for naming the peer online on the back of a botched Newsnight report which wrongly implicated him as a child abuser.
Asked whether the threat of legal action was real, Jonson told The Drum: “The challenge for Twitter users is that it is often seen as being the same as a ‘chat down the pub over a drink’. Of course the big difference is that tweets are permanent and can be easily communicated to vast numbers of readers.
“Many users of Twitter including Sally Bercow may come to regret their tweets. The fact that some users have promptly tweeted apologies is relevant as to the level of damages.
“Lord McAlpine's primary aim will not be financial recompense but to emphatically clear his name and perhaps to send a message to users of Twitter to think carefully before joining in a debate and tweeting before the facts are known.”
Lawyers acting on behalf of Lord McAlpine have not specified who they will be taking action against but the former Conservative Party treasurer has said he will pursue ‘all media’ who defamed him.
Suspecting she may be in the line of fire, Bercow today tweeted: “Now counting coins in piggy bank coz Lord McAlpine will probably sue my a***.”