dot.Rory: ‘When blogging meets policing’
The BBC technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, has followed up an incident reported on the Seismic Shock blog.
After publishing posts that accused an Anglican vicar, Stephen Sizer, of anti-Semitism, Seismic Shock’s author received a visit from two West Yorkshire police officers. West Yorkshire police has confirmed the incident:
“As a result of a report of harassment, which was referred to us by Surrey Police, two officers from West Yorkshire Police visited the author of the blog concerned. The feelings of the complainant were relayed to the author who voluntarily removed the blog. No formal action was taken.”
As Cellan-Jones says, many questions are raised: “(…) about the limits of free expression on the web, and the role of the police in pursuing complaints about the contents of a website”.
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