Journalists will no longer have to ask for permission to tweet in court under new rules issued by Britain’s most senior judge, paving the way for more live coverage of trials. However, before you all get excited members of the general public will still need approval to use Twitter or other text-based communications services in court however, because of fears that witnesses or jurors could be influenced or distracted. Tweeting by members of the media would not normally pose such a risk, said Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice.
One of the reasons behind the decision is that most obviously by permitting the use of live, text-based communications, this would be to enable the media to produce fair and accurate reports of the proceedings. The new relaxation of the rules for the media comes after consultation with the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Society of Editors, the Bar Council and others. The total ban on photography in court remains in place.

