Social media in courtrooms - Courts must be protected to protect us

THE old classroom admonishment “tell the truth and shame the devil” may not ring out as loudly as it once did. Indeed, considerable evidence suggests that the instruction was never as widely observed as our teachers or parents might have hoped. 

In many instances it seemed a twee convention, a social nicety hollowed out by the cut and thrust of life. Despite that neglect, the principle has assumed a renewed relevance. Almost single-handedly, US President Donald Trump has shown what can happen when the truth, or even a diluted version of it, can be discounted.

That make-it-up-off-the-cuff principle may yet be seen as the defining characteristic of his presidency, especially as he describes any reportage of his and his cabal’s misadventures as “fake news”. Another strand of that legacy may be a widespread indifference to truth; a state of mind that imagines integrity, reliability, and the social contract on which we all depend as something as quaint as a sepia-toned classroom principle.