Interim guidelines from the Crown Prosecution Service on social media

The Crown Prosecution Service has published new interimguidelines on on how prosecutors should deal with cases involving communications sent via social media.

We believe that young people need to be protected from sustained, targeted harassment and bullying online that has devastating consequences and can ultimately cost lives. So these guidelines are a very welcome first step. People need to understand that there will be serious repercussions for the comments they post online.

BeatBullying thinks that the government must urgently invest in online safety if we are to stand a chance of protecting young people from the impact of cyber-bullying. This cannot and should not be about criminalising young people. We need to teach young people what is acceptable behaviour online, and that is a responsibility that sits with all of society, not just with law enforcers.

To find out more about the public consultation on the guidelines - visit the CPS website: http://www.cps.gov.uk/consultations/social_media_consultation_index.html