Recent cases of abusive tweets have sparked a debate over whether the   authorities should get involved in policing Twitter.

It comes after the arrest   of a teenager in connection with abusive tweets directed at Olympic   diver Tom Daley and the jailing of a student for inciting racial hatred by   tweeting about the footballer Fabrice Muamba.

Mr Hyde told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that police forces need to take a “common   sense” approach when pursuing complaints about Twitter “trolls”.

He also rejected calls for new laws to govern Twitter – the increasingly   popular internet site where users can send messages of 140 characters or   less – and said that problems may eventually be resolved by the website   itself acting to root out abuse.

Asked if new laws were needed, Mr Hyde told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “No,   I think we have got quite a lot of legislation, dating back to the Malicious   Communications Acts of 1998 and 2003.

“There is a lot there that helps us and gives us the power to do stuff.

“This is a new technology, a new way of communicating, it has grown   exponentially. There hasn’t been separate legislation, so we are using   legislation that wasn’t particularly created for this, but it works   reasonably well most of the time.

“We are learning from it, there are things that have sometimes gone wrong   and I think sometimes it is important that we make sure we provide the   service people need.

“If people come to us and say ‘I am really upset, I’ve been offended, my   life has been made a misery and I want somebody to do something about it’,   then yes the police should, whenever possible, try to help.”

Mr Hyde said that police have so far not received large numbers of complaints   about abusive Twitter messages.

He said: “I don’t want police officers dragged off the streets to deal   with frivolous complaints. Where these complaints are pretty serious, then   it is quite right that we should intervene, and we do that.”

“It is important to look at the whole context. It is not just about one   tweet, it is a whole range of tweets.

“Look at what the individual has done – is this a concerted attempt to   have a go at one individual in a way that passes the threshold for offences   against the law? If it is, then clearly we should intervene and do something   to stop it.”

Mr Hyde said that he hoped that negative publicity about celebrities like Blue   Peter presenter Helen Skelton quitting Twitter would prompt the company to   take action.

“I think there is a case that if you are going to run it as a commercial   organisation, then you have got to allow people to use it safely and   securely, and have the processes in place where people are acting in a   strange way – and the word troll comes to mind – then you get them off as   quickly as possible,” he said.

Police Federation spokesman Steve Evans also warned that officers cannot be   expected to investigate every complaint about abuse and offensive language   on Twitter.

Mr Evans said: “The sheer scale of it is huge. Police resources are   stretched almost to breaking point, so if we started trying to investigate   every instance of stupidity within Twitter, then we would be really pushed.

“That doesn’t mean to say we won’t deal with criminal offences. If   criminal offences are clearly there, then it is the police’s job to   investigate them.”