Twelve Arrested For Tweeting Name Of Rape Victim

**Dakota Valkyrie** · May 2nd, 2012, 02:08 PM

Ched Evans

Twelve people have been arrested for allegedly tweeting the name of a woman who was raped by British soccer star Ched Evans.

The tweets on micro-blogging site Twitter were posted after Evans, 23, was jailed last month following his conviction for the rape of a 19-year-old woman in May 2011. He was sentenced to five years, although his attorney say he plans to appeal the conviction.

In Britain, rape and sexual assault victims "are legally entitled to anonymity for life," notes British newspaper The Guardian, and identifying such a victim "in a publication or program" is considered a criminal offense punishable by a fine of around $8,000.

In the United States, news organizations voluntarily do not use the names of victims of sexual assault, but there is no law prohibiting it.

The tweeting arrests are distressing, says the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil liberties organization.

"Obviously, it's deplorable and digusting that people were tweeting the name of the rape victim, but that doesn't mean people should be going to jail for, what, at least in the U.S. would be considered free speech," said Trevor Timm of the EFF, in an interview with msnbc.com.

"One of the problems with arresting people for saying things like this is it can end up backfiring," he said."Now this is an international story. Instead of ignoring the people who were mentioning the victim's name, now other news organizations are broadcasting where people can go and find this information, and it ends up turning into a situation where more people are going to know her name than if it was just ignored."

Particularly in the world of the Internet, this is known as the "Streisand effect," where an attempt to hide or remove information "ends up completely backfiring and publicizing the information more," Timm said.

"I think they would have been better off not doing anything than arresting people for what should be protected speech."
[...]

http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/t...ms-name-746363

**gee** · May 2nd, 2012, 02:13 PM

How about they should have never tweeted her name in the first place.

**Valasca** · May 2nd, 2012, 02:14 PM

Can we tweet their names or will we get arrested?

**Tundratot** · May 2nd, 2012, 02:14 PM

Maybe it's just my own brand of rebelliousness, but I don't support the "in the US this isn't against the law" defense. Not when it comes to exposing someone who is the victim and has a right to anonymity. It isn't just that people support athletes and stars when they would otherwise blame them as perpetrators, either. It's the concern that people will now use their knowledge to get revenge of the victim.

**LeaveMeBe** · May 2nd, 2012, 02:41 PM

"Obviously, it's deplorable and digusting that people were tweeting the name of the rape victim, but that doesn't mean people should be going to jail for, what, at least in the U.S. would be considered free speech," said Trevor Timm of the EFF, in an interview with msnbc.com."

Uhmmmmm, hey there Trevor "Toto" Timm, I hate to tell ya but y'all aren't in the good ole US of A. You're in Britain!

**LadyCygnet** · May 2nd, 2012, 03:00 PM

Anyone who tweets the name of a rape victim deserves to be arrested and charged with a crime. Now the victim has been victimized again and no doubt has to worry about retaliation because she dared to go to the police when she was raped by a celebrity athlete.

**HeatherHabilatory** · May 2nd, 2012, 08:22 PM

Welllllllllll, unfortunately, dude, you aren't IN the United States, so our laws don't apply to you.

**TheMorningStar** · May 2nd, 2012, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by HeatherHabilatory

Welllllllllll, unfortunately, dude, you aren't IN the United States, so our laws don't apply to you.

Even on an American server?

**TKaz** · May 3rd, 2012, 01:14 AM

Ok. I'm confused.

In Britain they legally can't say the victims name.
In America you can (although we don't out of respect & safety) because of freedom of speech.

Who tweeted? A Brit or an American?

I thought it was a British crime & an American tweeted & therefore it's getting more coverage than it normally would have.

**AngelFire** · May 3rd, 2012, 03:11 AM

I don't think the law shouldn't apply if he is an American. It's no different then the countless assholes from other countries that come here and do shit here that is against the law but acceptable in their land. If it's against the law in the Country you are in, don't do it.

You recall about 12 or so years back, that American kid that did some vandalized property in Korea and got his ass whacked with a paddle/ I bet that little asswipe learned his lesson.

I have a rule. If you step foot in my home, you are to follow the laws of MY home ( call me Fidel Castro). If you are in a different country you follow their laws. Sounds simple to me..

**Abroad** · May 3rd, 2012, 01:17 PM

I have a rule. If you step foot in my home, you are to follow the laws of MY home ( call me Fidel Castro). If you are in a different country you follow their laws. Sounds simple to me..

This is common curtesy. Rules and laws needn't come into it.

As for tweeting the name of a rape victim, I'd like to think people had more sense and decency, but clearly there are a dozen people that law was made for.......

**HeatherHabilatory** · May 3rd, 2012, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by TheMorningStar

Even on an American server?

I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way.

And the reason I say this is because of all the guys that get busted for child porn. Most of that shit is on offshore servers, yet they still get in trouble for it.

I could be totally wrong.

**CbabyRKO** · May 4th, 2012, 01:56 AM

Really? Just leave the US out of this please. We already have enough shit to worry about. Just becoz it's the internet doesnt mean the rules don't apply there as well. Nothing is ever truly erased from cyberspace so by them doing this they just revictimized her.
What was the point in them doing this? Just to prove how douchey and above the law they are? See how that's working out for all involved.

**sugarfree irony** · May 18th, 2012, 03:11 PM

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012...?newsfeed=true

North Wales police have referred Sky News to the Crown Prosecution Service and the attorney general's office following the accidental broadcast of a rape victim's name.

Officers from North Wales police on Thursday questioned four staff at Sky News' Osterley headquarters in south west London after the broadcaster inadvertently displayed a Twitter feed that named the 19-year-old victim on air last month.

The on-air mistake occurred as part of a report on Twitter users who allegedly revealed who footballer Ched Evans's victim was following his conviction for rape.

Sky News said in a statement: "Yesterday we met with North Wales police to demonstrate and explain the technical error which caused the inadvertent broadcast of the victim's name in a recent serious sexual assault case.

"The name was on screen for a fraction of a second and was visible only when viewed in slow motion. We apologised to the victim and her family as soon as we became aware of the error and are co-operating fully with the police."