Mainstream media no longer tried to ignore the power of social media, instead, using the crowd-sourced informationto feed (and in some cases mislead) their audiences.
The fake Firefox information attached to the FinFisher software was "deliberately designed to be read and mislead, " said Simon Ayrton, a partner at specialist intellectual property law firm Powell Gilbert.
There had been no intention tomislead parliament - but his comments had been wrong, based upon a misinterpretation placed by him upon information he had received immediately before entering the chamber.