Moron who sends Tom Daily offensive tweets gets arrested

[HAL9000]

I was so pissed off by this last night when I read what the idiot said.

Now he's been arrested.

Good, Trolling is illegal in the UK.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-sent-to-olympic-diver-tom-daley-7993820.html

A
17-year-old boy has been arrested over a string of malicious tweets he allegedly
sent to the teenage diver Tom Daley over his failure to win an Olympic medal in
a case that has raised fresh questions over the policing of comments on social
media.

The teenager – who tweeted by the name of @Rileyy_69 – was arrested at 2am yesterday and was being questioned by Dorset police after the young diver retweeted a comment suggesting that Daley had let down his late father who died last year from brain cancer.

The teenager was arrested under the Malicious Communications Act. It carries a maximum sentence of up to six months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000 for a communication “which conveys a message which is indecent or grossly offensive.”

Police said that the teenager was arrested at a guesthouse in Weymouth after a telephone complaint from a member of the public. Legal commentators suggested the case highlighted how social media has gone mainstream and is increasingly subject to the scrutiny of the criminal justice system.

 

[techs]

Wow. What a difference from here in the US. Here the people who make offensive tweets are called Republicans and they get elected to office.

 

[Texashiker]

Be proud of your nanny state, its going to protect you against everything, including yourself.

 

[HAL9000]

Wow. What a difference from here in the US. Here the people who make offensive tweets are called Republicans and they get elected to office.

Ha.

Be proud of your nanny state, its going to protect you against everything, including yourself.

Were so proud.

 

[PokerGuy]

Just more evidence of incredible stupidity on the part of the British, and how they've agreed to give away any right to free speech.

 

[HAL9000]

Just more evidence of incredible stupidity on the part of the British, and how they've agreed to give away any right to free speech.

No it wasn't.

No we haven't.

 

[nehalem256]

Wow. What a difference from here in the US. Here the people who make offensive tweets are called Republicans and they get elected to office.

So in other words you think people who hold opinions that are different from yours should be thrown in prison.

That certainly says a lot about you as a person.

 

[Jaskalas]

Wow. What a difference from here in the US. Here the people who make offensive tweets are called Republicans and they get elected to office.

If this was the UK you'd be arrested for saying that.

 

[PokerGuy]

No it wasn't.

No we haven't.

Yep, it was, and yes, you have. When someone can get thrown in prison simply for saying something that someone else finds offensive or distasteful, you have obviously given up free speech. "grossly offensive" is highly subjective.

When the law makes speech subject to a highly subjective concept of being offensive, you've lost freedom of speech.

 

[PokerGuy]

If this was the UK you'd be arrested for saying that.

:thumbsup: Good point. If enough people found his comment offensive, under a law like the one in the UK he could be thrown in jail for it. Freedom of speech = dead and buried over there.

 

[yllus]

The UK has magnificently enormous issues with censorship.

 

[bfdd]

insensitivity is a crime in the UK? i lol'd

Damn peasants have no idea what free speech is, yet HAL comes in here like an idiot trying to say he does. Please HAL just shut up you do not know of which you speak. You do not have free speech and you personally do not support free speech. You support controlled speech.

fail

 

[Genx87]

No it wasn't.

No we haven't.

Oh so he wasnt arrested for what he wrote?

 

[actuarial]

The UK has magnificently enormous issues with censorship.

They definitely do, but these cases are certainly a grey area, whether people like to admit it or not.

If the same thing had been said in person, he could have been arrested (definitely in Canada, I believe in the US too). Had it been sent by mail, same thing.

"I'm going to find you and I'm going to drown you in the pool."

Start sending letters with that phrase around to your neighbors and see what happens.

 

[HAL9000]

Yep, it was, and yes, you have. When someone can get thrown in prison simply for saying something that someone else finds offensive or distasteful, you have obviously given up free speech. "grossly offensive" is highly subjective.

When the law makes speech subject to a highly subjective concept of being offensive, you've lost freedom of speech.

He said he was going to kill him.

we haven't lost freedom of speech, we've lost freedom of hate speech, which isn't a freedom worth having anyway.

 

[HAL9000]

Oh so he wasnt arrested for what he wrote?

Yeah he was. How are you confused?

 

[bfdd]

Yeah he was. How are you confused?

So he doesn't have the freedom to say whatever he wants, which is speech. He has limited speech as in he cannot say offensive or insensitive garbage. Freedom of speech not found lol @ you peasants.

 

[Doppel]

God Bless America and I mean that sh*t. A lot of stuff is wrong here, but 1st amendment still means you can't be butt hurt and have me ARRESTED for saying something you find offensive (exceptions include libel, threats of violence, etc.)

made a violent threat towards Daley

So was he arrested for violent threats or being rude? A person could be arrested in the US for a violent threat, but all I hear in the media over this arrest is how it was about an offensive tweet, not a threat of violence.

 

[HAL9000]

God Bless America and I mean that sh*t. A lot of stuff is wrong here, but 1st amendment still means you can't be butt hurt and have me ARRESTED for saying something you find offensive (exceptions include libel, threats of violence, etc.)So was he arrested for violent threats or being rude?

Bit of both I suspect.

We are protected against hate speech, you are not, this is a freedom we hold dear.

 

[actuarial]

So he doesn't have the freedom to say whatever he wants, which is speech. He has limited speech as in he cannot say offensive or insensitive garbage. Freedom of speech not found lol @ you peasants.

You also have limited speech. The limits are certainly different, but don't pretend like you can say whatever you want whenever you want without legal consequences.

 

[Doppel]

Bit of both I suspect.

We are protected against hate speech, you are not, this is a freedom we hold dear.

This is a freedom Americans hold dear; that people are not protected against hate speech, since there is objective definition of hate speech and it can encompass anything.

I think Barbara Walters needs to watch out, maybe she'll get arrested for her comments about your queen. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ssing-like-19th-century-opening-ceremony.html

 

[HAL9000]

So he doesn't have the freedom to say whatever he wants, which is speech. He has limited speech as in he cannot say offensive or insensitive garbage. Freedom of speech not found lol @ you peasants.

I don't work on a farm...?

 

[techs]

Wow. What a difference from here in the US. Here the people who make offensive tweets are called Republicans and they get elected to office.

If this was the UK you'd be arrested for saying that.

Since I would never go to the UK I guess I'm safe.

Although what if I had posted those messages from here in the US? Would the Brits try and extradite me?

 

[yllus]

They definitely do, but these cases are certainly a grey area, whether people like to admit it or not.

If the same thing had been said in person, he could have been arrested (definitely in Canada, I believe in the US too). Had it been sent by mail, same thing.

"I'm going to find you and I'm going to drown you in the pool."

Start sending letters with that phrase around to your neighbors and see what happens.

I actually got curious as to what the accused tweeted so I read a number of articles on this. That which you quoted isn't said by all to be the cause of the arrest - we all hope that the reason is because of a credible threat, but the fact is that "in Britain, tweeting messages considered menacing, offensive or indecent can lead to prosecution." (Source) Jail time for speech that's nebulously offensive or indecent is a very scary prospect.

 

[HAL9000]

This is a freedom Americans hold dear; that people are not protected against hate speech, since there is objective definition of hate speech and it can encompass anything.

I think Barbara Walters needs to watch out, maybe she'll get arrested for her comments about your queen. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ssing-like-19th-century-opening-ceremony.html

I refuse to click on Daily Fail links, they don't mean anything.

All of the restrictions you put on free speech are subjective terms aswell...