Is the news being censored

[hrmg]

AIBU to ask if the news is being censored around a footballer that has recently been in custody?

Does anyone know why the news may be censored in this way?

Thank you all for the clarification and explanations!

OP I’d recommend the Secret Barrister book and blog for more info on the criminal justice system and how it works generally. It’s very useful.

The challenge on forums and social media is that people talking about any case risk prejudicing the prosecution. Because people will pile on and say ‘X is guilty as sin etc’, ‘obvious they did it’ etc. Which essentially brands that accused person as a crime as guilty. Whereas the law states you are innocent until proven guilty by a court. So if guilt is ‘assumed’ then there are all sort of problems giving a fair trial to that individual. I believe the media can report on cases, but they will refer to the ‘accused’ or the ‘arrest’ which is factual. Unfortunately the public can’t be trusted to moderate their views in such a way, hence you will often see threads/posts deleted.

A practical example would be imagine picking a jury who have read lots of gossip and speculation online and have already decided the defendant is guilty before they have heard a piece of evidence in the court. The case would never be fair and it just undermines the whole system.

That said, I think there is still an issue because the law has not caught up with social media and I think change is needed to communicate the legalisation to the public or change the law so social media companies are accountable in removing unlawful content. And maybe the fines need to go up to make people realise they cannot just spout whatever they want.