178 It was, relatedly, submitted that "the impact of the allegations in this case, in terms of their inherent tendency, is in direct contrast to allegations such as fraud, illegality, cruelty, betrayal or other allegations which might, in their inherent nature, be regarded as 'serious'". That may be so, but that is simply to recognise that there are different degrees of seriousness and different categories or subject matters of allegations.
179 The next issue was about the extent of publication.
180 Twitter recorded at least 6,171 "views" of the primary tweet, prior to the time Mr Latham deleted it, two hours and 20 minutes after it was first posted: see [32] above. Many of the comments in evidence, almost all of which were "supportive" of Mr Latham, were posted in response to the primary tweet itself: see [33] above.
181 Mr Riminton, who is a television journalist, reposted the primary tweet. It was viewed at least 654,700 times, and immediately provoked further comments "supportive" of Mr Latham. See [35] to [37] above.
182 Dr Collins submitted, and Mr Smark agreed, that it is "obvious" that "much of" the comments and messages relied on by Mr Greenwich were in a causal sense "a response to the primary tweet". It can be safely inferred that the comments and messages posted between 10:13am on 30 March 2023, when the primary tweet was posted, and 1:38pm on 1 April 2023, when The Daily Telegraph article was published, were caused by publication of the primary tweet, including because they responded directly to the primary tweet or referred to sex acts. They include:
- (a) tweets posted in response to the primary tweet itself (set out at [33] above);
- (b) tweets posted in response to the Riminton tweet (set out at [37] above);
- (c) tweets posted in response to mainstream media reporting of the controversy (set out at [39] above); and
- (d) feedback and emails to the online account of Mr Greenwich's Electorate Office on 30 and 31 March 2023 (set out at [76] above).
183 It was further submitted that many of the comments and messages received after 1:38pm on 1 April 2023 referred to sex acts, from which it may be inferred they were directly, causally connected to the primary tweet. They include the tweet set out at [41(c)] above dated 2 April 2023 and the communications set out at [77] above.
