Law and Society Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Law and Society - Article Example Moreover, it is an offence to disclose proceedings relating to minors, or publishing the deliberations of the jury. 1 Several factors have made social media more influential than mainstream media, among them the worldwide reach, low cost associated with internet, and the ability or real time communication. One single tweet can go viral within seconds. â€Å"In days gone by, it was only the mainstream media that had the opportunity to bring information relating to a court case to such a large group of people that it could put a court case at risk. That is no longer the case†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the attorney general was recently quoted saying. However, social media poses a unique challenge. Currently, there exists a weak regulatory framework. The social media is currently regulated by the same laws as the mainstream media. Besides, it is very hard exert regulation over the social media. This is because of the worldwide nature of internet. A person can generally access the internet, or make a comment, from any part of the world. This means that discussions or conversations concerning criminal cases that once took place in gardens or clubs now have a global platform now. Consequently, it’s hard for any one country to exert jurisdiction over the internet. The attorney general has appreciated this fact. â€Å"Blogs and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook mean that individuals can now reach thousands of people with a single tweet or post. This is an exciting prospect, but it can pose certain challenges to the criminal justice system,† stated the attorney general, Dominic Grieve QC.2 Besides this, it is very easy to surf the internet anonymously. Tracing such people, therefore, is hard if not impossible. Therefore, regulating social media is a wide mandate, involving individual internet users and internet services providers. Another factor that makes social media unique is the fact that main players in the sector are laymen; teenagers, youths, adults and