Warning on use of social media content from Press Council

A recent decision by the Press Council of Ireland should act as a warning that journalists do not have free rein to use content posted to social media, a leading academic has warned.

The comments by Jane Suiter, Institute for Future Media and Journalism at Dublin City University, come following the Press Council’s findings against independent.ie over an article it ran on April 1.

The article, entitled ‘Irish woman reveals her struggles with postpartum psychosis after April Fool’s Day post causes major upset’, documented how a woman who had posted a poorly received image of a stork to a private Facebook group subsequently “opened up about her struggle with post-natal depression and psychosis”.