Who Needs Cameras? Judges Allow Twitter in the Courtroom

With practically unlimited ways for users to access Twitter for sending and receiving tweets, we wondered how long it would take before it became an active participant in courtrooms.

We’ve already seen journalists in the United States granted permission to tweet while in court, but Australia is breaking some interesting ground when it comes to Twitter and the legal system.

After a recent trial that involved journalists tweeting the proceedings, FOXNews is reporting that the Federal Court in Australia has decided that as with other media, individual judges will be able to decide on a case by case basis if they will allow live Twitter coverage from within their courtrooms.

Apparently earlier in the month two technology journalists, one from ZDNet Australia, used Twitter to report live regarding an iiNet copyright case around movie piracy. The presiding judge, Dennis Cowdroy, soon became aware of their tweets, but saw no issue with their behaviors.

Cowdroy was even quoted as saying, “I believe that the public has a legitimate right to be fully informed of proceedings, particularly proceedings such as (the iiNet case), which have attracted considerable public interest. Twittering can serve to inform the public in a more speedy and comprehensive manner than may be possible through traditional media coverage.”

Given the circumstances, the Federal Court of Australia became aware of the situation. Chief executive Warwick Soden then went on the record to dictate that each judge will be able to make their own decision on whether or not to allow Twitter reporting.

Do you think allowing journalists to tweet from the courtroom is a good idea? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Reviews: Australia, Twitter

Tags: australia, court, courtroom, twitter