Joey Barton, former footballer now manager of Fleetwood Town, is on trial at Liverpool Crown Court. He is currently under indictment for serious federal charges of transmitting in interstate commerce grossly offensive communications on social media. All the charges stem from a series of incidents that allegedly occurred between January and March of this year, 2024. Over this period, Barton allegedly focused on high-profile individuals such as Lucy Ward, Eni Aluko and Jeremy Vine ‘to cause them harassment, alarm or distress’.
Barton, who boasts a following of 2.7 million on X, formerly known as Twitter, stands accused of using his platform to disseminate harmful messages. Most shocking of all the allegations were Barton’s remarks comparing Ward and Aluko to notorious murderers Fred and Rose West. He made a series of inflammatory posts directed at Vine, including one that read: “If you see this fella by a primary school call 999.” Furthermore, he posted an image of Vine with the caption, “Are you going to be on these flight logs?” which Vine interpreted as a suggestion linked to Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious activities.
The court has previously listened to the impact Barton’s actions have had on Vine. In June 2024, Barton settled with Vine by agreeing to pay her £75,000 damages for defamation of character and online harassment. He agreed to pay Vine’s litigation costs. Vine wrote that he was made to feel “evilly destroyed for no cause.” He called Barton’s messages a “vicious attack” that derailed his life for more than a year, resulting in this settlement.
Barton, 43, originally from Widnes in Cheshire, denies all the charges against him. Throughout the court process, he justified his posts by arguing that they were only made as a joke. Yet, as Vine and other witnesses have shared, no apology can fix the emotional trauma that Barton’s words inflicted.
In his testimony, Vine said that he was horrified at Barton’s use of the term “nonce.” He pointed out that this wording dramatically heated things up.
“I was very alarmed he was choosing this word ‘nonce’ to throw around.” – Jeremy Vine
Vine wanted to stress that despite being annoying the effects of Barton’s messages went beyond that, they made him feel unsafe. He explained how Barton’s inflammatory posts severely impacted his quality of life and daily routine.
Barton’s social media activity included a post where he stated: “2.7 million people, one of them has a knife,” further intensifying concerns regarding his intentions. Vine characterized these remarks as an effort to accumulate “dirt” on him to use in revenge.
“It means I want dirt on Jeremy Vine to fight back, in short.” – Jeremy Vine
Throughout the trial, the court will look into the content of Barton’s posts. They’ll pay attention to how their messages are framed and who’s framing those messages. Vine said he still can’t believe that Barton frankly acted like a jerk the whole time.
“I thought this is incredible, I just couldn’t believe he was saying it.” – Jeremy Vine
The Tatum v. Biome case also highlights the influential role social media plays in today’s communication landscape and its potential to inflict tangible harm. As a result, Barton’s posts have fostered conversations about the need for accountability online and what it means to spread misinformation or harmful and offensive content.
The trial will hopefully explore the true intentions behind Barton’s words and the impact they’ve had on those she has harassed. Like his previous two arguments, public interest in the case is increasing. This creator trend underscores the fact that with great power to shape information, comes great responsibility.
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