Bloggers beware as judge says authors do NOT have right to anonymity on the web
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:55 PM on 16th June 2009
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Night Jack blog writer not entitled to anonymity
Refused: The police officer author of the award-winning Night Jack blog has been denied an injunction to prevent him being named
The police officer author of a prize-winning internet blog has failed in a court battle to protect his anonymity.
High Court judge Mr Justice Eady refused to grant an injunction preventing a newspaper from identifying the servicing detective constable behind the 'Night Jack' blog.
Hugh Tomlinson QC had argued that internet bloggers' identities should be protected by the law of confidence, and an acknowledgement by the courts that improper disclosure of private information could be cause for action.
He also argued that there was a 'public interest' in preserving the anonymity of bloggers.
But the judge ruled that the information he is seeking to protect - his true identity - 'does not have about it the necessary quality of confidence, nor does it qualify as information in respect of which the claimant has a reasonable expectation of privacy'.
He said: 'Furthermore, even if I were wrong about this, I consider that any such right of privacy on the claimant's part would be likely to be outweighed at trial by a countervailing public interest in revealing that a particular police officer has been making these communications.'
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The judge added that in another case, an undercover journalist using a pseudonym had been found to have 'no reasonable expectation of privacy'.
He said that although the blogger, who goes by the online name of Jack Night, was not a journalist, 'the function he performs via his blog is closely analogous'.
The blogger had originally claimed that his identity had been disclosed to The Times in breach of confidence, which would have given him a potential cause of action.
Mr Justice Eady ruled internet bloggers are not entitled to anonymity
Mr Justice Eady ruled that the blogger was not entitled to remain anonymous
However, he ultimately accepted the evidence from reporter Patrick Foster that he had been able to 'arrive at the identification by a process of deduction and detective work, mainly using information available on the internet'.
The judge said that the serving officer's blog dealt with his police work and his opinions on social and political issues relating to the police and the administration of justice.
He said it 'expresses strong opinions about these matters including on subjects of political controversy' and had criticised a number of ministers.
But the author has taken care to disguise reference to cases he has been involved in, and has made it a practice to try not to flout court reporting restrictions, he said.
The blogger had sought the injunction to avoid the risk of police disciplinary action, but his identity has now been revealed to his employers by The Times.
As a result, Mr Tomlinson argued that there was no need for his identity to be released more widely, but Mr Justice Eady rejected this argument.
He said: 'It seems to me that the public is entitled to know how police officers behave and the newspaper's readers would be entitled to come to their own conclusions about whether it is desirable for officers to communicate such matters publicly.'
The Night Jack blog won a special award for blogs at the Orwell Prize ceremony in April. It has since been taken down, although it is unclear whether this has anything to do with the High Court hearing.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1193369/Bloggers-beware-judge-says-authors-NOT-right-anonymity-web.html?ITO=1490
