Post Comment - Blue's News

Morning Legal Briefs

[Nov 20, 2012, 12:30 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

In Britain, spate of prosecutions for Twitter and Facebook tirades spark free-speech debate. Thanks Cutter.

Post Comment
Enter the details of the comment you'd like to post in the boxes below and click the button at the bottom of the form.

14.

Re: Morning Legal Briefs

Nov 20, 2012, 17:26

Quboid

Cutter wrote on Nov 20, 2012, 16:55:
Slight difference between having to defend something offensive and a joke. That guys life is in tatters because of a joke. That's utter insanity! If that's not Big Brother I don't know what is. Jesus, next stop it's off to the gulags for "re-education".

It's a mess, and everyone knows it. Paul Chambers' case brought this to light and will, I believe, lead to a change in the law for the better. The sad thing is, if his name was Farid Al-Islame he wouldn't have got the public support and, to coin a phrase, the appeal by media.

I don't mean to sound like I'm saying "I told you so" to my own nation* but it wasn't long ago that there was rejoicing when a moron who tweeted and texted racist stuff about a black footballer who'd just had a heart attack on the pitch during a televised game. I remember thinking at the time, this is a dangerous precedent - free speech needs protected more than ever when it's unpopular, that's when it is most easily quashed.

*I definitely do mean to. I told you so, I told you so.




- Quboid

Subject

Comment Enter your comment here, but please respect the forum rules (below).

;) :( :o %) :) :| ;P X| :D More

If you have a signature set up, it will be automatically appended to your comment.
If you don't already have a Blue's News user account, you can sign up here.
Forgotten your password? Click here.

Email me when this topic is updated.

Special Codes

b[bold text]b
i[italic text]i
u[underline text]u
-[~~strikethrough text~~]-
c[code text]c
+[bullet point]+
q[quote text (indented)]q
[quote="Author"]quote text (indented)[/quote]
[url=Link]text[/url]
r{red text}r
g{green text}g
b{blue text}b
m{maroon text}m
s{secret text (shows in the background colour)}s

Forum Rules

Disagree all you want but attacks of a personal nature will not be tolerated.
Ethnic slurs and homophobic language will not be tolerated.
Do not post spam, links to warez sites, or instructions on how to obtain pirated software.
Abusing the forums in any manner that could be construed as 'griefing' will not be tolerated.