Julian Price

Super Injunction and Twitter - A Gagging Order for Celebrities and Footballers



Posted: Saturday, May 21, 2011

by Julian Price
http://www.uk-freelance-content-writer.co.uk/

The super injunction, amidst a storm of social media and twitter controversy has become synonymous with footballers and celebrities, (not to mention politicians) but what exactly are these super injunctions and just how super are they anyway?

My dictionary states the following:

Injunction – An authoritative warning or order. Law –A judicial order restraining a person from an act or compelling redress to an injured party.

Super – To a great or extreme degree. Extra good or large of its kind, Of a higher kind, esp. in names of classificatory divisions (superclass).

So, it becomes reasonably clear that the super injunction isn’t simply an injunction with bonus red cape but a sort of heavyweight gagging order which purposes to prevent the disclosure of information.

However, as it turns out, these super injunctions are indeed a little like superman in that they have developed a kryptonite size weakness in the form of the internet, social media and in one particularly high profile case in May 2011, Twitter.

I am no lawyer, so please don’t quote me on the technicalities, but from what I can decipher a super injunction is meant to be pretty much invisible. Invisible in the sense that the gagging order can be imposed by the courts, but the media (nor anyone else) is permitted to report its existence, thus providing protection for the filing individual.

The world of course and media in its many guises are currently obsessed with the darker side of celebrity culture, with a raging addiction for uncovering all the juicy details of a private life, especially those private lives that can make the most dramatic headlines!

Social media networks and its millions of users have become the thorn in the flesh for those who seek to impose super injunctions as individuals set up micro blogging accounts and report all the information and reveal all the celebrity names that the media, and anyone else for that matter, have been prohibited to unveil.

Being no expert in the matter, it seems to me that a super injunction isn’t very super at all! Apparently these gagging orders don’t come cheaply either and the many thousands spent trying to keep innermost secrets could all be undone in 140 characters or less! Go figure.

Update 22.05.11: The Sunday Herald newspaper in Scotland has claimed it has revealed the identity of the premiership footballer at the centre of the super injunction twitter storm, by publishing a picture of the player with only his eyes covered and labeled "censored".

Update 23.05.11: MP John Hemming, in Parliament, revealed the name of the premiership footballer alleged to be involved in the twitter super injunction row. It's not my place to reveal the names of those allegedly inolved in the affair here but most reading this will already know the name in the middle of this battle for privacy rights.

So, where now for the much talked about super injunction? As politicians and lawyers discuss the implications of the messy celebrity twitter affair, will the gagging order for celebrities become extinct?
Julian has diplomas in freelance journalism (with distinction), copywriting and proofreading. He is also a creative writer and poet who writes both professionally and for pleasure. Julian has written articles for an internet marketing company and although this medium is often restricted by topic, his writing still maintains a unique and often humourous style, with many of his articles achieving good results on search engines. He has found the discipline involved with this kind of work to be a great writing exercise and believes it enhances and improves other areas of his writing. Julian is becoming an established freelance writer and many of his articles here at searchwarp are a showcase of the variety and quality of his work.

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