The war against Twitter

The war against Twitter

It wasn't so long ago that the internet was abuzz with talk of a "Twitter Revolution", and the social networking site was being hailed as a tool for promoting freedom and democracy.

But a few months is a long time in cyberspace, and as Briton Paul Chambers has just discovered, Twitter is now just as much of a threat to personal freedom.

He's been charged under the Terrorism Act after tweeting his annoyance at the closure of his local airport:

"Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your s**t together otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!"

Chambers got a visit from Her Majesty's Constabulary, who confiscated his iPhone, laptop and home computer. It seems they worked out that, actually, he really didn't intend to blow anything up, but they charged him anyway, with

sending, by means of a public electronic communications network, a message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.

Now regular fliers have long known that even cracking a smile in an airport these days will attract special attention from the guardians of our security, and just whispering the word "bomb" will result in legal action.

But if being "offensive" in your everyday communications is now an offence under the Terrorism Act, the famed British sense of humour may well be on a path to extinction.