In support of her application, Reed also filed copies of social media posts and blogs. She argued that although mainstream media might be expected to act responsibly and await the first court appearance, the same could not be said of bloggers and social media advocates. The young man's identity was hidden forever, in part, because of the "potential hardship caused by the pernicious, judgmental, exponential, indelible and often ill-informed publication on social media platforms". "The alleged incident has attracted considerable mainstream and social media attention," he said in his written judgment, released to media this morning. Relevant factors, he continued, would be the imminence or otherwise of charges, any delay in first appearance and the judge's sense or gauge of any adverse media, especially social media, reaction.

Source: Otago Daily Times September 14, 2021 01:41 UTC