Simple clear advice in plain English

Men jailed for racist material on foreign server

Two British men who posted racist material on foreign websites held under UK law

image of scales of justice
computing/computing-15-11-07/scales-justice

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.

Reader Comments

   

Add your comment

All fields must be completed. Your email address will not be displayed or used to send marketing messages.

All messages will be checked by moderators before appearing on the site.

See our Privacy Policy for more information.

Related articles

Creative commons website screenshot

Law and the internet - beware of libel, copyright and contempt

If you're used to expressing your views freely in the pub, you need to take care when sharing those same views on Facebook or forums. We explain why

receipt illustration

Why is the PC from Eazycomputing different to the one I ordered?

If a PC is not as described the seller is in breach of the Sale of Goods Act

spotifybantif

Online music, and confusion

Some people won't pay anything for music

Question & Answer

Q.Why are some of the keys on my keyboard doing strange...

> Read the answer

Q.Is my phone’s Bluetooth any use?

> Read the answer

Q.Can I switch boot drives so that I can work on older...

> Read the answer

Best deals on the web

img

Apple iMac 21.5" (MC309)

£926.40- Buy it now

img

Dell Inspiron 620 ST Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz / 3GB / 500GB / DVDRW / Win 7 Home Premium

£329.00- Buy it now

img

ZooStorm 7877-1023

£386.38- Buy it now

Latest issue & subscription deals

Poll

Are you concerned about viruses that target mobile phones?

Jargon Buster

Computing terms explained in plain English

CAD

Computer Aided Design. Software used to create 3D models.

Great shopping deals from Computeractive