OTTAWA – The verdict is in from Canada’s top judge: The justice system must get a firm grip on social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
That’s because both a free press and an independent judiciary have key roles in a democracy committed to the rule of law.
It’s a message that Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin is delivering in a speech to students at Carleton University in Ottawa.
The chief of the Supreme Court of Canada says the media in general are essential in building public trust in the administration of justice.
But she says newspapers, radio and television are old technology, which means anyone with a keyboard can call themselves a journalist.
She questions whether fairness and accuracy might become casualties in the world of Facebook and tweets and instant messaging, which she says are part of profound cultural shift in how people communicate.
