Qwpzxjor1 Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Social networking is starting to outstay it's welcome. I think the days of unregulated use are numbered, particularly after the incident in Holland a couple of weeks back. Should you be arrested for telling sick jokes on the Internet? Personally I think no. You wouldn't be arrested for telling that joke in a pub, the trouble is that it's written and therefore easy evidence. Had you written that in a letter then you'd equally be prosecuted, it's just the nature of the law that as soon as something is written, it's pretty much impossible to defend against.. the internet makes it very easy for these comments to be investigated. Jokes about national news should not be prosecutable. Direct insults, threats, racism.. certainly... but jokes are jokes, they cross the line of course - but if you don't like it then you just ignore it... that's the way jokes have always been and it's worked up til recently, where it's become the culture to complain or sew at anything you think might offend anyone in any way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted October 11, 2012 Moderator Share Posted October 11, 2012 Had you written that in a letter then you'd equally be prosecuted, it's just the nature of the law that as soon as something is written, it's pretty much impossible to defend against.. the internet makes it very easy for these comments to be investigated. No you wouldn't Frankie Boyle has written books full of shit like that. This is all to do with terrorism... oh shit, no it's not but that's why the law was brought in... this is more to do with distraction and the veneer of democracy fading Voltaire would be horrified Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
privateer Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMFy Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Throughout this entire situation, I'm surprised nobody in the media has commented on the parents. What the **** were they thinking, allowing a 5-year-old with cerebral palsy to play outside - 250 yards from their house - at 7:30pm? It was dark here at 7:30pm last Monday... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J.Rimmer Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 The problem is that they never repeat what exactly it was that got the fellow convicted, so how can we ever know what we're not supposed to say? Causing offence is an important part of getting people to think... personally I think we should all be much more offensive to our religious bretheren... but does this mean I'm in danger of going to prison? A muslim man was recently jailed for saying something along the lines of 'all British soldiers should die and burn in hell'. What is the matter with that? I'm as British as anyone, but if that is what he thinks so be it... all well and good. The correct response is to inform him that his prophet Mohamed was a stinking peadophile and may he rot in pig shit. BOF : Edited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 A distinction needs to be made between twitter and facebook. They are quite different media in terms of publicity. With twitter it is completely public and you are; in essence; saying it to the world. So yes, you do need to be careful. It's just like walking up to someone in the street and saying it to them. Facebook is different in the sense that you are only saying it to a selected audience that you have chosen (assuming you are not posting 'public'). So I don't think that should have the same consequences because the analogy there is that you're saying it to your mates down the pub. If you post inappropriate stuff on facebook (and god knows I have) then your audience need to put up or shut up. If you do it on twitter then you must be prepared for the consequences. I absolutely agree with this, especially if the comments on twitter are tantamount to defamation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Some muslim was recently jailed No, he wasn't. http://www.bbc.co.uk...-leeds-19883828 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 The amount of 'offensive' stuff I've said on Facebook/Twitter in the past, if they went through it all and added it up I'd probably have 20 years in prison by now. What the hell is this country coming to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 How hard is it to just Ignore someone, if they are causing offence due to a joke?.. Delete them as a friend, or block their Tweets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J.Rimmer Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 No, he wasn't. http://www.bbc.co.uk...-leeds-19883828 I stand corrected... I should have said convicted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Social networking is starting to outstay it's welcome. I think the days of unregulated use are numbered, particularly after the incident in Holland a couple of weeks back.What happened in Holland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 North Korea, here we come. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Great thread. We need to stand up for our rights. But when politicians can use offensive words against police, when a normal guy like me would be arrested what chance to we have? I did read that a 'do-gooder' took a screen print of what the lad said and posted it to the April Jones page which lead to the outcry and arrest. Which makes it even more pathetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 11, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted October 11, 2012 I did read that a 'do-gooder' took a screen print of what the lad said and posted it to the April Jones page which lead to the outcry and arrest. Which makes it even more pathetic. If that's true, then surely it shoudl be the "do gooder" who gets arrested?! Hes the one who's effectively told the joke to the people who would be offended by it. That's like me whispering a joke to you about Maddy McCann, and then you seeking otu Maddie's parents, telling them the same joke, and saying "Well Stevo told it to me" and me being arrested for it. They're only offended because you've told them the joke. (I'm not sure if I even agree with myself here... but it doesn't seem right) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Throughout this entire situation, I'm surprised nobody in the media has commented on the parents. What the **** were they thinking, allowing a 5-year-old with cerebral palsy to play outside - 250 yards from their house - at 7:30pm? It was dark here at 7:30pm last Monday... Very true but completely overlooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted October 11, 2012 Moderator Share Posted October 11, 2012 On a related theme. A man got 8 months* in jail today for wearing an anti-police T-shirt * 4 of them were added on for breaching terms of a suspended sentence Clickings Anti-police T-shirt man jailed A man who wore an anti-police T-shirt in public just hours after the killings of two policewomen has been jailed. Barry Thew, 39, was spotted in his home town of Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, wearing a T-shirt which carried handwritten comments of "One less pig; perfect justice" and "Killacopforfun.com haha". Less than three-and-a-half hours earlier, Pc Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, were shot dead in a gun and grenade attack as they responded to a reported burglary on the Hattersley estate in Mottram, Greater Manchester. Thew, of Wolsey Street, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to the public order offence committed on September 18. He was sentenced to four months in jail and received an additional four months after he admitted breaching the terms of a previous suspended jail term. Following sentencing, Inspector Bryn Williams, of the Radcliffe Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "While officers on the ground were just learning of and trying to come to terms with the devastating news that two colleagues had been murdered, Thew thought nothing of going out in public with a T-shirt daubed with appalling handwritten comments. "Thankfully the overwhelming response from the public - who have inundated us with messages of support and condolence - prove that Thew is the exception and not the rule and our communities were right behind us at our darkest hour. "To mock or joke about the tragic events of that morning is morally reprehensible and Thew has rightly been convicted and sentenced for his actions." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 What a tosser. Also shit at basic maths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted October 11, 2012 Moderator Share Posted October 11, 2012 As much as he's a tosser and shit at basic maths. I don't think he should be jailed for that either. If that's any sort of an offence it's the sort of offence that community service is the perfect antidote for. Jailing someone for clearly not liking the forces of law and order, probably because he's feeling resentful towards them over his previous offence(s), isn't going to change his mind is it? It'll probably make him hate the police even more. Do I agree with what he said? No certainly not. Do I think he's an idiot? Yes I most certainly do. Putting him in jail however makes the state the biggest idiot. It's yet another example of pseudo-moral outrage winning over common sense and it keeps the real news off the front page so it serves its purpose. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted October 11, 2012 Moderator Share Posted October 11, 2012 Completely agree with all of that Bicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Aren't our jails full enough? Do we really need to waste tax payers money on prosecuting people for comments on twitter? We really are entering into 1984. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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