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Anybody who follows me on Twitter, reads this blog or knows me in actual proper real life knows that I’m one of the first people to defend Twitter as a powerful networker of intelligent people and a loudspeaker for those often ignored.

When Carter Ruck and Trafigura tried to gag the Guardian, Twitter’s collective defiance made such moves pointless, arguably striking one of the biggest blows against press censorship in recent years.

When Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir used spurious conjecture to disagree with Stephen Gately’s official cause of death to theorise a new fatal syndrome called ‘death by questionable morality’, again Twitter’s voice was loud enough to create a record number of complaints to the PCC – more in one weekend than the previous five years.

And, when a TfL employee was videoed abusing a man on the Tube, Twitter’s ability to amplify moral outrage led to his suspension and eventual resignation.

So, when Professor David Nutt was fired from an independent body by the health secretary for voicing scientific facts that highlighted the absurdity of the government’s general drug policy and classification system, I expected Twitter users to vent their anger.

But there was no flooding of supportive hashtags or messages. There was no outrage. What, is this less important? We know that the way we deal with drugs, drug users and rehabilitation isn’t working. We know that scare tactics are largely counter-productive because they’re so easy to argue with. Finally, when an important expert had the guts to come out and say so there was silence on Twitter. No ‘I’m Spartacus’ moment. Nothing.

I don’t mean to be flippant, but perhaps if he’d have done it on X Factor people would care more?

Twitter is obviously only a microphone and speaker for its users and can only amplify the sentiment that is input. But I’m really beginning to question the importance of a system that angrily refutes accusations of banality, yet buzzes with reality TV gossip and ignores serious issues like this.

And more worryingly, as Andrew Brown points out in the Telegraph today, what right thinking, independent expert would volunteer to advise the government now?

By @jamesseddon

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