Teen charged over Facebook post on UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan#

reply to post by kerazeesicko


Do you really believe that a soldier flys out to a foreign country with the sole intention to kill civilians? The very nature of their job means that they will always be linked to instances where civilians get killed. Its unfortunate, but it happens. The American military calls this collateral damage. The British, an unfortunate set of circumstances.

No soldier asks to be called a hero. Ask any one of them. This is merely a media tag given to those serving.

This guy could have just said that he was unhappy at the difference in media coverage between the soldiers compared to the Afghans. The soldiers don't write the news after all.

I am pretty sure that the Afghan people have killed more of the Afghan people than soldiers over the years. Why is it only the soldiers fault?

Not good or nice things to say at all..

BUT...

Seems like the right to say things that are not good or nice is one of those "western freedoms" we western countries had one time or another wasn't it?

reply to post by TimesUp


Nothing has happened to "us". This is the way we have always been and will continue to be. It's unfortunate, but as long as there's something to fight over, be it religion, money, power, resources, insults etc., it's just the way it's going to be.

As for the OP's story - Guess what? He lives in Britain not in Afghanistan. And if he feels so inclined to spout off, he should take a trip down there and fight for his people. Muslims in general get far too much leeway in the West because we're so politically correct we're afraid to say anything.

I don't think I need to sit here and give you all various links, pictures and videos as to what Muslims do in the U.K. It should already be widely known. And IMO, it shouldn't be tolerated. Not by Muslims, Christians, Hindu's or Atheists. (Although, the other groups mentioned really haven't done jack.)

reply to post by Frogs


I hear what some of you are saying.

But when is the line crossed? According to free speech, it is my right to be able to speak my mind. But what if I was to make a comment about (for instance) the black community, and labelled them all as the 'N' word. If that was my personal view and I was entitled to free speech. Should I get away with it?

reply to post by maskedkhan


Freedom of Speech is a fallacy... sold to the masses under the guise of tolerance and understanding... so as it has always been... so shall it be in the future... all words carry gravitas when the subject is death, or hatred... if somebody says that my family must die, I will fight to the last breath... regardless of the PC brigade's current agenda... is the fact that Iran/Iraq/Afghanistan in the middle east such a desolate place due to the USA or Uk? I mean, really?

Some people still live there as they did 1400 years ago... that is tragic... and not acceptable, for those people...

Wow.

I'd hate to see how the UK would treat Westboro Church...

or maybe I wouldnt...

reply to post by maskedkhan


Well - it happens all the time. One group of people say something dumb about another group of people. So if you arrested all the whites that say something bad about blacks, blacks that say something bad about whites, Christians that say bad things about atheists, Atheists that say bad things about Christians, Liberals that say bad things about conservatives, conservatives that say bad things about liberals, etc, etc, etc... . the streets and web would probably be pretty quite - because most people would in jail.

Where to draw the line? Its like yelling "FIRE!!" in a crowded theater, people are very likely to get hurt because of that so its against the law.

In this case - was someone really likely to get hurt because a 19 year old kid shot his mouth off and posted something stupid on facebook?

There's worse stuff that that posted here on ATS and all over the net every day. Whatever happened to the ability of people to read something and just think, "Geeze - that guy is an idiot." and get on with their lives?

reply to post by Petest205


Isn't that what makes your country better though?
Basically, you are saying your country should be MORE like the countries that would whip/stone you for saying things about Allah.

reply to post by Petest205


i got to say...the surreal world of the internet is being dragged into the real world....hmmmm

as for this case, i got one issue with it...CONTEXT!

saying the comments he made, during a drunken night on a lame website, in court......then all context is dissipated.

so its all BS.....

These "racial aggrevation" laws in England are crap as far as I am concerned.

I didn't think that white woman who went into an anti-immigrant rant of a tram last year deserved to get in trouble with the police, and I don't think this guy deserves to either. Hate is not a crime, its an emotion.

Originally posted by smyleegrl
reply to post by Petest205

 

I don't understand. He posted a personal opinion on Facebook and was arrested for doing so?

Regardless of his opinion, I find this rather ominous. Or am I missing something?

It was full of hate and threats , if he piped off without that nonsense there would be no problem.

reply to post by Frogs


Guys don't get me wrong. I am not some super innocent 'I would never speak my mind' kind of guy.

I am just pointing out that in this day and age it's just not sociably acceptable to be posting messages like that without expecting some kind of backlash. So when someone drops a 'biggie' about an already touchy subject in the UK at the moment, I don't think it would be in the public interest for the police to simply ignore it.

As always, its the age old 'damned if you do, damned if you don't'.

To me it looks like a comment out of anger after reading about the disgusting events that happened over there.

What he said wasn't cool at all. But I've seen worse all over the internet, especially towards MUSLIMS. Yet do you see those people getting arrested? Nobody should be getting arrested for a comment like this, it's not like he personally went up to family members or threatened to kill anyone himself.

He's got nothing on Westboro Baptist Church.

Also I'm not seeing the racist part in his comment? Can anyone help me here.

reply to post by Petest205

The internet is not a private place, not anymore. What he did was hate speech.

If you keep it to yourself or in private, it's ok. But remember that holding hate inside just makes it grow. We don't want an environment that breeds hate, so we have to be hard on people that do it openly.

Ultimately, we're all responsible for the hate we brew inside ourselves. It's called karma.

Originally posted by _Phoenix_

Also I'm not seeing the racist part in his comment? Can anyone help me here.

edit on 13-3-2012 by _Phoenix_ because: (no reason given)

Don't take everything you read in the media at face value.

I imagine the Police responded to the complaints and most likely, found further evidence on his computer to bring about this charge. As you have pointed out, the definition of racial hatred does not not apply for merely referring to 'soldiers'.

Investigations evolve and the media does not have sight of these casefiles at the end of the day.

reply to post by paraphi


If emotionally hurtful speech isn't protected, then it's not free speech..

I guess you have a "Free speech until some people become outraged, and then it becomes illegal"

KILL YOUR FACEBOOK...

This just goes to show things are not like they used to be. The day I got rid of my facebook, I felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. If they (Big Brother) can do things like this whats the point of having one? I bet if everyone got rid of there facebooks the Gov. would not know what to do. Just my 2 cents..

peace

Originally posted by Miraj
reply to post by paraphi

 

If emotionally hurtful speech isn't protected, then it's not free speech..

I guess you have a "Free speech until some people become outraged, and then it becomes illegal"

Well said.

___________________

And I thought it was FREE SPEECH that those
soldiers died for, guess not, what a waste.
(won't see me crying for BP Lol )
___________________

Okay, I've slept on it and I've figured out why he was arrested.

Obviously his views were seen as so strong, the police probably saw him as a future threat in some way. So the arrest was just an excuse really to grab his biometrics (swab & fingerprints)

Believe it or not, there are people in the UK who fly into Pakistan, head over the border, assist in a few coalition deaths, then fly back!!

But there measures in place now that are stopping this.