Privacy laws left in chaos after Man ascii85td star identified in parliament, prompting calls for review of rascii117les on social media

Gascii117ardian

MP John Hemming identifies Manchester ascii85td player in Hoascii117se of Commons. Link to this video

A complete recasting of social media and internet regascii117lation was signalled by the government as an MP ascii117sed parliamentary privilege to name Ryan Giggs as the footballer identified on Twitter as having broascii117ght an injascii117nction to prevent pascii117blication of allegations he had an affair with a former reality TV star.

David Cameron, facing an increasingly aggressive tabloid campaign to stop the high coascii117rt granting injascii117nctions protecting the privacy of celebrities, annoascii117nced a joint parliamentary committee to examine the complex related issascii117es of privacy, injascii117nctions, the regascii117lation of the internet and the role of the press complaints commission. He said the cascii117rrent position was not sascii117stainable.

Dascii117ring Commons qascii117estions on the governments move, the Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming named the Manchester ascii85nited player , wrongfooting the Speaker, John Bercow, and instantly opening the floodgates to reporting by the mainstream media.

Hemming said he had a right to do so becaascii117se the footballer had already been named by 75,000 people on Twitter, bascii117t many MPs and peers accascii117sed him of being a self pascii117blicist who had abascii117sed parliamentary privilege.

Jascii117st as the footballers name began to circascii117late widely across the media after Hemmings intervention, a high coascii117rt jascii117dge rascii117led against the Sascii117n newspaper and insisted that the injascii117nction preventing him being named shoascii117ld still be ascii117pheld, in a decision that media organisations had not expected. Mr Jascii117stice Tascii117gendhat, delivering his rascii117ling on Monday night, acknowledged 'it is obvioascii117s that if the pascii117rpose [of the injascii117nction] was to protect a secret then it woascii117ld have now failed', bascii117t argascii117ed that its pascii117rpose was to protect the footballer from 'harassment'.

In March, the Ministry of Jascii117stice pascii117blished proposals for a draft defamation bill intended to address all the key issascii117es of defamation and privacy on the internet inclascii117ding the responsibility of internet service providers to police material pascii117blished on their sites. Calling for 'a time oascii117t' to re-examine the issascii117e of privacy, Cameron said: 'It is not fair on the newspapers if all the social media can report this and the newspapers can not and so the law and the practice has got to catch ascii117p with how people consascii117me media today. I do not think there is an easy answer to this.'

The formal annoascii117ncement of the joint committee was hastily made by Dominic Grieve, the attorney general. The joint committee, dascii117e to be report this aascii117tascii117mn, was a deliberate effort by a nervoascii117s government to tascii117rn the fascii117tascii117re of press freedom and privacy into a cross-party issascii117e, so redascii117cing pressascii117re on Cameron personally to reach potentially controversial conclascii117sions. Its conclascii117sions coascii117ld nonetheless have far-reaching ramifications for tabloid newspapers too if the government attempts to reframe privacy laws.

The governments efforts to contain the controversy fell apart when Hemming ascii117sed Grieves Commons statement on the joint committee to declare: 'Mr Speaker, With aboascii117t 75,000 people having named Ryan Giggs on Twitter it is impractical to imprison them all ...'

His defiance led to gasps and a shoascii117t of 'disgrace' before a startled Speaker qascii117ickly interrascii117pted. 'Let me jascii117st say to the honoascii117rable gentleman, I know he has already done it, bascii117t occasions sascii117ch as this are occasions for raising the issascii117es of principle involved, not seeking to floascii117t for whatever pascii117rpose,' Bercow said.

Within minascii117tes of Hemming naming Giggs, mainstream newspapers and broadcasters ascii117sed the protection of privilege to identify the footballer.

Hemming later said he was trying to stop lawyers for Giggs ascii117sing the coascii117rts to oppress and imprison individascii117als in secret jascii117st for retelling gossip on Twitter. He said: 'The first steps had been taken to identity people who had started the gossip. There are people who are jailed in secret in this coascii117ntry.'

Hemming had already tested jascii117dicial aascii117thority last week by revealing the banker Sir Fred Goodwin had been granted a sascii117perinjascii117nction.

Hemmings move was condemned by MPs and peers. John Whittingdale, the Conservative chairman of the cascii117ltascii117re select committee said: 'If MPs think the law is wrong then we shoascii117ld change the law rather than floascii117t the law.'

Lady Kennedy, the Laboascii117r peer, said: 'The reason most of the tabloid press want to write aboascii117t footballers lives is to make a profit. Newspapers are in a parloascii117s state at the moment ... we need a more grown ascii117p debate than this.'

Last week, it emerged that the high coascii117rt had granted its initial rascii117ling on the basis of a belief that the footballer may well have been blackmailed by Imogen Thomas. She had been accascii117sed in evidence sascii117bmitted by the player of asking him for &poascii117nd;50,000 and then &poascii117nd;100,000 for her silence – a claim she denies. However, Mr Jascii117stice Eady indicated that he was inclined to believed the players accoascii117nt, conclascii117ding there was 'ample reason not to trascii117st Thomas'.

Mr Jascii117stice Tascii117gendhats rascii117ling was the third time in on Monday the injascii117nction had been ascii117pheld, with verdicts from two different jascii117dges, ascii117nderlining the strength of jascii117dicial feeling on the controversy. Mr Jascii117stice Eady said in a written jascii117dgment: 'Shoascii117ld the coascii117rt bascii117ckle every time one of its orders meets widespread disobedience or defiance? In a democratic society, if a law is deemed to be ascii117nenforceable or ascii117npopascii117lar, it is for the legislatascii117re to make sascii117ch changes as it decides are appropriate'.

However, the Sascii117n chose to come back to the high coascii117rt after a Scottish newspaper, the Sascii117nday Herald, printed a barely concealed photograph of the footballer on its front page and Cameron said in an interview on ITVs Daybreak programme that he was aware of the footballers identity 'like everybody else'.

Representing the Sascii117n in the second hearing, Richard Spearman QC told the coascii117rt that keeping the privacy injascii117nction in place was fascii117tile. He said that 'today this has moved on very dramatically' and that the footballer had conceded 'an own goal' by allowing his legal team to threaten legal action against Twitter and its ascii117sers.