UK police arrest man for offensive tweet and other disturbing trends

It sounds like a joke, but it's not.

Recently a young man was arrested for posting an offensive tweet. There was no threat, there was no violence, there was no libel. Was it offensive? Yes, and also incredibly stupid.

Police have arrested a 19-year-old man over an "offensive" tweet about the Glasgow bin lorry crash that has killed six people.

The tweet said: "So a bin lorry has apparently driven in 100 people in Glasgow eh, probably the most trash it's picked up in one day".

Link

I can certainly see why many were offended, but isn't this crossing a line? It seems like a very, very slippery slope. Let's look at the law.

Offence of sending letters etc. with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

(1)Any person who sends to another person—
(a)a [F1letter, electronic communication or article of any description] which conveys—
(i)a message which is indecent or grossly offensive;
(ii)a threat; or
(iii)information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender; or
(b)any [F2article or electronic communication] which is, in whole or part, of an indecent or grossly offensive nature,is guilty of an offence if his purpose, or one of his purposes, in sending it is that it should, so far as falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above, cause distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom he intends that it or its contents or nature should be communicated.

Link

Can you get more vague? I can say anything causes me stress or anxiety. Who defines indecent? Who defines offensive let alone grossly offensive?

I may be wrong about this, but I am under the impression that these things only apply when written. So you can say whatever you want (kinda) but write it down and suddenly it's arrest worthy.

That is some creepy legislation. Really creepy. Now some could argue it's to keep these people from making other people angry to the point where they might be assaulted (which is ridiculous) or that rude comments shouldn't be posted. The problem with that is that everything seems to offend someone.

Think how easily this can be used against people with a certain opinion. Like those that dislike seeing certain foreigners spilling into the country. Can't say anything about that, might be offensive.

-----

Then we have the ridiculous porn ban. All these things that are completely legal for people to do in their bedrooms suddenly deemed too offensive for consumers even though the acts themselves are completely legal. Most of the things that were banned are harmless and while perhaps not to everyones taste, should never have been put on the list. If it's legal to do, why isn't it legal to film?

Link

-----

Then there's this nonsense. Arresting kids for posting pictures of themselves online with weapons. Freaking insane to me that there are police that spend all day looking for pictures of kids holding knives. One kid in the video gets ARRESTED after holding a freaking metal bat. Now if the picture is taken at home, they just tell the parents. If you dare to have a knife or "weapon" outside of your residence and are under age they will arrest you. I'd be really interested to know what criteria has to be met. If You find a piece of pipe on the street and post a picture of you holding it is it suddenly a weapon? What about a broken bottle? What about a tire iron?



Can we PLEASE not turn this into a US vs. UK thing? It isn't at all the point. I'm not attacking the UK and especially not people who live there. Creepy crap gets passed in the US all the time too. My intent here is to highlight just how disturbing things can get when the government gets it's way and to caution those of us that aren't at the same level yet to not give an inch because clearly we will lose miles.

It is quite disturbing indeed!

I have not payed much attention to these issues over there in the UK.

However now is the time that we will see these moves being made. We have gotten to this point by the subtle Fabian approach guiding us over the years.

Basically the laws have been written to enslave all of us, from the convoluted banking system, to the tax system, to the legal system in general.

Now the attack on free speech is imminent. Here in America, we are about to see it ramp up due to the attacks against police and the post that happened before it.

We slid down the orwellian/huxelian slope long ago, now we are forced to face it and try to climb back up and reclaim our power.

S&F

a reply to: Domo1

Crazy.
You have to choose to be offended. So this guy gets arrested for choices other people make.

a reply to: ZeussusZ

Man that's a good point. I never thought about it that way really.

What a sad state of affairs when a very amusing joke is potentially illegal because some find it offensive.

I was called sick on here a number of times because I do not believe in censorship and if I want to see what it's like being in a car crash or being on the end of an IED I will look at live leak. At least then I can make a more informed judgement.

Now the UK are saying I can't legally watch face sitting on the Internet but I can join Plentyofish and have some chick sit on my face legally?

Madness.

What are people playing at, will women in UK have to wear veils soon incase I get aroused by one on the bus and start raping people?

breaking news...man farts in public and is arrested for being a public nuisance ......

so the police must be really bored if they are arresting people for an opinion......what a retarded world ...

Here is the thing, I'm not surprised. The thugs can only do what people let them. So, when something like this in a town, ie lets call it Brookes, then over half the people tell them, their direct employees, at the police station, phoning in, writing in, emailing, and even showing up, and say that is never happening and you don't get to investigate yourselves anymore, you can be stress free on over tasking there buddies. We have our own citizens group and we'll be the judge. And you inform whatever local political office is around there of the same.

Stop it.

Be grateful for cases like this ,it shows you what your next step is. When something ugly rears its head, its up to you to group up and stop it.

Lack of ability to organize quickly locally means something I've always said is absolutely critical to a democracy of any kind including proportional and representative and in fact you don't have one without, citizens groups with citizens participating in every town, all citizens minus the ones in the hospitals having babies, or sick.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

I don't blame the police. They don't make these stupid laws. The guy turned himself in too.

a reply to: Domo1

i hear ya....but the police do have a choice ....if they were busy with actual criminals they would not have time for this kind thing

a reply to: Domo1

agree, weren't the police trying to de-criminalise "soft" drugs so they can be free up to concentrate on real threats to the public? I can only imagine they were dismayed as they were interviewing the chap.

who creates these laws, who asks for them? Is it the same politicos who are watching and performing this stuff, or the church putting pressure on whilst they are the worst abusers?

I hope whoever decided this to be their campaign falls on its own sword, the snivelling little self absorbed doogooder.

I didn't find it even mildly offensive. So what law was broken?

Don't look now....such snivelling self absorbed doo goodies are the future that the ptb desire for all mankind......

a reply to: Domo1

The guy doing the tweet is a clown but he does not need to get arrested for his idiocy.

I used to go in the Pub or work and find that after the newest tragedy there would be a few jokes doing the rounds,as nuts as it seems to some people it's old school working class humour and it was endemic to certain cities,it was death gallows wit at someone else's expense.
The time is coming when the general public constantly self audit every single thing that is uttered for fear of ramifications from elected officials or brain washed peers...freedom of speech should always be preserved even if it is deemed offensive to others because where this agenda is going will end in George Orwells 1984.
I would rather be verbally offended than have some entity controlling my every word or thought.

I do not have a good opinion of the guy tweeting that kind of thing but it's another situation whereby the Police are starting to be thought Nazis and are an incremental part of the totalitarian tiptoe,any snide agenda the treacherous mafia grease bags in parliament want passed they do in slow stages so the public cannot see what the endgame is.

The Police in Britain must be as thick as two short planks,they are giving away their own Children's God given freedom to some bureaucratic control freak elitist self entitled establishment that looks down their collective noses at public servants ,the Israelis have a good term for it,it's caused useful idiots.

originally posted by: stirling
Don't look now....such snivelling self absorbed doo goodies are the future that the ptb desire for all mankind......

But they are never that pure, it's human nature, look what happens when you try and create a so called pure state, Church with a disproportionate amount of sexual deviants, closet homosexuals and paedophiles.

I apologize to the OP, I didn't completely read the whole post. It's beyond ridiculous. Who thinks this is okay?

originally posted by: southbeach
a reply to: Domo1

The guy doing the tweet is a clown but he does not need to get arrested for his idiocy.

I used to go in the Pub or work and find that after the newest tragedy there would be a few jokes doing the rounds,as nuts as it seems to some people it's old school working class humour and it was endemic to certain cities,it was death gallows wit at someone else's expense.
The time is coming when the general public constantly self audit every single thing that is uttered for fear of ramifications from elected officials or brain washed peers...freedom of speech should always be preserved even if it is deemed offensive to others because where this agenda is going will end in George Orwells 1984.
I would rather be verbally offended than have some entity controlling my every word or thought.

I do not have a good opinion of the guy tweeting that kind of thing but it's another situation whereby the Police are starting to be thought Nazis and are an incremental part of the totalitarian tiptoe,any snide agenda the treacherous mafia grease bags in parliament want passed they do in slow stages so the public cannot see what the endgame is.

The Police in Britain must be as thick as two short planks,they are giving away their own Children's God given freedom to some bureaucratic control freak elitist self entitled establishment that looks down their collective noses at public servants ,the Israelis have a good term for it,it's caused useful idiots.

I don't know anything about the guy, but I don't have a twatter and I wouldnt post jokes like that on my face ache account, butiwould tell the joke on forums and understand I could be easily tracked and issue with an arrest warrant.

I would also repeat that joke in the pub and if a fellow patron chose to offended by it, I would apologise. If said person wasn't satisfied with my apology and started acting like a they were majorly offended, well I've got a lot worse I can invent to really insult you.

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
breaking news...man farts in public and is arrested for being a public nuisance ......

so the police must be really bored if they are arresting people for an opinion......what a retarded world ...

World? No, country.

a reply to: elementalgrove

The loudest voices for these kinds of laws in the US that I remember first hearing were back when our current cesspool like president was just elected, and all those who were not mentally subjugated by him, and were voicing about all the things about him that no one believed, but now know is true, were being used as an example that freedom of speech should be amended because it "offended" Obama supporters and his corrupt hirelings, and they said it openly and without fear to do that, and while they did that, many of our republican leaders said not a word against it, and secretly hoped for, and some worked towards that themselves.

When a so called free country has within it, these kinds of filth and enemies of liberty running it, judgement will be coming around the bend, and judgement is getting near.

I remember also in the UK, that about when this law was passed, was also a time of many politicians there being caught in many forms of corruption, and this served to keep them in place and give them armour against the complaints and the truth of citizens.

Of course this OP is different, but the LAW that was passed was touted in the beginning to protect those politicians, (if I am remembering correctly), even if it was the truth being told, or words said that an accuser couldn't prove, (which is the reverse of slander where the burden of proof is on the accused to prove is NOT true. Example: Obama is a cesspool of corruption. I say it is true, but, he has to prove it isn't true to win any slander case. He knows it is true and would be a laughing stock even more than now, and so he has never filed a case against anyone for that.

But pretty soon these kinds of pond scum who are parasites upon mankind, will think of a way to have the truth removed from the equation, and the crime for "offending" some scumbag like him (who work secretly against the liberty of Americans, but also partnership with David Cameron and many other world leaders, to work towards the same mutual degradation of our freedoms and against all of the worlds checks and balances we have left that are hindering their ambitions towards those aims, may finally give far more severe penalties for speaking against them. Even the death penalty has been suggested right here in America for anyone speaking against them.

These kinds of laws usually happen AFTER the guns have been surrendered and taken away. What comes after that can be seen reading just a couple of history books.

originally posted by: MyBossOwnsYours

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
breaking news...man farts in public and is arrested for being a public nuisance ......

so the police must be really bored if they are arresting people for an opinion......what a retarded world ...

World? No, country.

the world in general is retarded ....these kind of rules are spreading,and are not limited to a country...

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

the world in general is retarded ....these kind of rules are spreading,and are not limited to a country...

It really isn't just one country at all, you're spot on. There are many places that are even worse. There are many places that are heading in this direction, US included.