Well said Ms Lumby…
Wednesday 3 March, 2021
Professor Catharine Lumby says we are “witnessing a reckoning” from younger women who are “using social media to collectively call out issues that extend across society which has given them the opportunity to tell their stories collectively rather than in single file as we witnessed with the #MeToo movement”.
As a long-standing advocate in the prevention of sexual assault and harassment, Professor Lumby applauds the bravery of sexual assault survivors in telling their stories. At the same time, she says we need to be very careful of removing the right of those who are accused to a presumption of innocence.
“I do worry about trial by media and increasingly trial by social media. In the case of Christian Porter he has a right to a presumption of innocence and the police have closed the case so it is very unlikely to be tried in a court of justice. There is however the option of holding a properly run inquiry which is mindful of the rules of natural justice.”
“Social media challenges all of us to think about what the limits to speech should be. People are often saying defamatory things on social media, or things that are in contempt of court.”
“It’s time to have a national conversation on where the limits of speech should be in the social media era.”
