The first-ever Twitter Moot will examine the impact of social media on the justice system.
Dining out on Twitter
It's Friday, January 29, and the dining room at Nyood is packed. Vegetable antipasto, panko-crusted chicken, and malta braised short ribs are coming out of the kitchen of the restaurant in Toronto, courtesy of head chef and Food Network personality Roger Mooking. The lights are dim and the music is loud. Champagne and wine are flowing. A Tribe Called Quest is pumping from the speakers and diners are getting up to dance.
The front of the restaurant is glowing dimly in the light of a projection floating over the DJ booth on the rough white wall opposite the bar. On screen is the restaurant's twitter feed, which is shifting with updates in real time.
2.jpg "David Climenhaga, author of the Alberta Diary blog, is a journalist, author, journalism teacher, poet and trade union communicator who has worked in senior writing and editing positions with the Toronto Globe and Mail and the Calgary Herald. His 1995 book, A Poke in the Public Eye, explores the relationships among Canadian journalists, public relations people and politicians. He left journalism after the strike at the Calgary Herald in 1999 and 2000 to work as Communications Director of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which with more than 73,000 members is Alberta’s largest union and Canada’s 10th largest. Alberta Diary focuses on Alberta politics and social issues. Contact: albertadiary @ gmail.com")
Bill C-30
On Valentine's Day 2012, Conservative Public Safety minister Vic Toews along with Justice Minister Rob Nicholson introduced Bill C-30, originally named the Lawful Access Act. An hour later, the bill's name was changed to Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act. This happened in the wake of SOAPA in the United States, a bill that also proposed letting police have more access and power online.
What it is
Social media is an opportunity to discuss law, endangered caribou and First Nations rights
The Supreme Court of Canada's Chief Justice, Beverly McLachlan, raised many virtual eyebrows on January 31 when she expressed concern about the impacts of social media on Canada's justice system. Her worry is that people using social media as their main information source may be getting an inaccurate impression of the justice system.
Especially timely -- at least to West Coast Environmental Law -- was her question: "How can a medium such as Twitter inform the public accurately or adequately, in 140 characters or less, of the real gist of a complex constitutional decision?"
#ANC100 debate lays bare divisions over South Africa media
On January 8, 1912, South African intellectuals -- including pioneering black newspaper publishers Pixley ka Isaka Seme, editor of Abantu-Batho, and John Langalibalele Dube, editor of Ilanga lase Natal -- formed Africa's oldest liberation movement, the African National Congress (ANC) in Bloemfontein.
