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Breaking Online Laws Could Mean Four in Ten Risk Facing Legal Consequences

Almost half of people in the UK (44%) are at risk of facing legal consequences from breaking the law online.
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Innocent pranks like changing a friend’s Facebook status or uploading a concert video to YouTube could leave many facing legal action. Despite being a nation of ‘digital natives’ an extensive study has found over half of us could be at risk of coming up against legal consequences after breaking the law online.

The research has revealed that only 44% of people were able to correctly identify illegal activity online and a worrying lack of understanding was highlighted amongst 16-24 year olds in particular - where confidence in the legality of their actions online was just 17%. Defaming people using social media, uploading copyrighted content and hacking were amongst the top five risks to be identified.

When compared to offline activity, people were much more self assured in their actions, with almost two thirds in no doubt about their legality (66%). A high number of convictions for online offences over the past year have sparked concern from experts, who fear many more could find themselves becoming ‘accidental outlaws’ if they aren’t empowered with the knowledge of how to use the internet safely.

. Introduction:

Tweeting your opinions, jokingly changing a friend’s Facebook status and sharing links online could be much more serious than you think. An extensive study has revealed some of our most common, innocent online activities, as potentially law breaking. However, perhaps the most concerning thing to arise has been the lack of awareness surrounding this issue, which could potentially leave many more facing legal consequences.

So why is there such a gap in our knowledge when it comes to what’s legal online and how can we avoid finding ourselves in trouble?

Joining us to discuss this further is Jonathan Armstrong a legal expert and Phil Kingsland from Knowthenet a not-for-profit organisation committed to helping people to get the most out of the Internet.

. Suggested Questions:

What does research reveal about knowledge of online legality in our area?

What were the top five risk areas identified by the study?

How important is it that people are more clued up about what is illegal online?

What are the risks to people who do have a gap in there knowledge about online legality?

What advice do you have for people who want to stay legal online?

Where can we find more information?