Sunday Herald dedicates front page to picture of super injunction footballer
The Sunday Herald has this morning published a picture of the Premier League footballer who has taken out a super injunction against being named in connection with an affair.
The picture of the player dominates the front page of the newspaper, although a black line runs across his eyes with the word ‘censored’ written across the line to promote an analysis of privacy laws.
Also featured on the front page are the words ‘Everyone knows that this is the football accused of using the courts to keep allegations of a sexual affair secret. But we weren’t supposed to tell you that…”
In an editorial explaining the move to defy the super injunction without ever using the player’s name, the paper says “we believe it is unsustainable that the law can be used to prevent newspapers from publishing information that readers can access on the internet at the click of a mouse.”
It continues; “Because we believe it unfair that the law can not only be used to prevent the publication of information which may be in the public interest and also to prevent any mention of such a court order.
“The so-called super injunction holds no legal force in Scotland, where a separate court order is needed.”
The piece adds that it is not accusing the player of any misdeed and that his actions involving any affair are not relevant to the debate, which it claims is about the freedom of information and a ‘growing argument’ for more restrictive privacy laws.
“Extra restrictions are not necessary,” the editorial continues stating that the laws in England can already make it problematic to publish information that is arguably in the public interest, but that those laws are also “under pressure” from the internet.
The article is not running on the newspaper's website however.
The footballer in questions is currently suing Twitter to reveal the identities of its users who are spreading tweets about him and linking him to an affair with Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas. When the news broke of the law suit, his name became one of the most popular subjects on the social network site with its users defying his attempt to silence them.