Men jailed for racist material on foreign server

British people who post racist content online will still be held liable by the UK courts even if the content is hosted in another country.

The Court of Appeal has now ruled that domestic law will apply as long as much of the activity in question took place in the UK.

The ruling follows appeals by two men against earlier convictions for publishing racially inflammatory material online.

Stephen Whittle wrote several articles that were anti-semitic and derogatory of black people and likely to stir up racial hatred. They were edited and put online by Simon Guy Sheppard.

Lord Justice Scott Baker agreed with the original trial court's analysis that this activity was within the jurisdiction of English law.

"The [original trial] judge pointed out that the material complained of was prepared in England and Wales, was uploaded onto the website from England and Wales and that this must have been done by Sheppard in the knowledge and with the expectation and intent that the material should be available to the public or a section of it within the jurisdiction in England and Wales," he ruled.

He also said Sheppard's offer to post material to people living in England and Wales meant he contemplated that people in England and Wales should have access to the material he posted on the website.

The court also ruled that material posted online is still constituted as 'writing'. This means it is covered by the Public Order Act, which contains the offences of publishing racially inflammatory material.