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The Police did investigate the case and submitted the evidence they had to the Crown Prosecution Service Lawyers, having looked at the case they decided that a prosecution for dangerous driving was not realistic and this was an accident. I would however have thought that charges could have been brought in relation to leaving the scene of an accident, even if Danbngerous Driving couldn't be proved.
In terms of the law regarding the internet, it is classed as being a public space, and the same laws apply as apply to any other public area.
Furthermore grossly offensive or obsene communications and publications have always been subject to the law, whether it was obscene phone calls, poison pen letters, certain types of pornograhy and publications.
This is nothing new, in the 1970's the police had a unit called the Obscene Publication Squad and the Oz Magazine Trial of the time drew a lot of media attention, indeed the whole thing goes back to Victorian sensibilities and even other controvesial cases such as the 1960 R v Penguin Books trial under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 for the publication of D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover.
The Police and CPS have clamped down on cyber bullying and people who troll dead peoples accounts or victim tribute pages, however I don't know the exact circumstances of this case or the reason the CPS decided to press ahead with a prosecution. I also worry about people who make complaints to the police and send copies of instragram accounts which the police then have to investigate, as for Jay-Z saying the same thing "in front of thousands of people at the Glastonbury Festival", the Festival is an all ticket affair and is held on private land rather than being in a public place. However I should imagine Jay-Z videos are on youtube, but then again the Government is now set to clampdown further on youtube and other such outlets.
I think Jim Jefferies pretty much sums up my views on free speech including that in the US, and it should be noted that even in the US Social Media comments can have severe consequences.
What a joke. I'm glad the US has far greater protections for freedom of speech than the UK. I can't believe prosecutors actually wasted their time with that.
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