'Legitimate safety concerns from social media' - Law Enforcement
LEGITIMATE safety and security concerns were raised by a social media post last month which is why an individual was spoken with when he travelled through the airport, Guernsey Police have revealed.
The statement follows an incident at the airport yesterday [Thursday 2 January] whereby a prominent figure in Guernsey's finance industry David Piesing was taken aside by an officer in plain clothes upon entering the departure lounge and was advised to be very careful regarding his social media criticism of Guernsey Airport's security procedures.
Mr Piesing had previously used the platform Twitter to voice his dissatisfaction and opposition to the current screening process operated by security firm G4S.
He took to Twitter again after the incident to document his experience, demanded a response from Guernsey Airport management and said it was a clear breach of GDPR to misuse airline passenger list information for anything other than bona fide security issues, border control checks or other criminal matters.
Yesterday, a joint spokesman for Guernsey Airport and Bailiwick Law Enforcement said previous specific online comments resulted in an officer speaking with an individual about the content and phrasing used to ensure there were no further security risks.
In a second statement issued today from Law Enforcement, a spokesperson said: 'In this instance, which has received considerable attention, legitimate safety and security concerns were raised by the content of a social media post issued last month.
'For this reason and this reason alone, an individual was spoken with when he next travelled through the airport.
'He was not advised not to make negative comments about the airport again, but was advised that using certain terminology when directly referencing the airport could be misinterpreted. In any instance where specific, inappropriate language with security implications is used publicly, Law Enforcement cannot be complacent.'
They said Law Enforcement would never use officers to prevent open debate about airport services or any other matter of fair public interest and this was a security issue, not a free speech issue.
'The officer in question, who has been subject to considerable social media commentary, acted under the guidance of senior Law Enforcement officers who specialise in counter-terrorism, and did so entirely appropriately.'
More in tomorrow's Guernsey Press [Saturday 4 January].
