Someone gets jailed - For racial comments made on twitter? What?

Ok, while I don't agree with extreme racism, etc, I find it strange how someone can make racial commens about muamba, and then get sentenced to 56 days in prison. I mean wtf? Remove the guys twitter account sure, but prison? Only in the UK does someone get a prison sentence, for something they said over the internet.

 

Shame that this doesn't happen more often to be honest. The kid deserves what he gets for what he said.

 

It is time for people to realise that what they say online is accountable.

Prison sentence may be harsh, but cyberbullying etc is real to the victims, so it should be to the troll. A man was dying on that pitch and this small minded man decided to take the opportunity to racially insult him to the whole world.

Trolling is not acceptable, and the boundried between humour and offence have been too blurred for too long. And it seems like the judicial system sees it the same way.

Good luck on the inside Liam, because you're life outside is never going to be the same.

 

Pff I don't agree tbh. It should be twitters job to remove his account, end of. Freedom of speech. I don't care how provocative it is tbh, you have a right to say it, and have your account removed, because you said it.

 

People here don't believe in freedom of speech any more. Just look at the replies above my own to see this demonstrated. It is genuinely felt in this country that people should go to jail for what is perceived as offensive.

It makes me sad, but then, the UK has never been a bastion of freedom.

 

I have to agree with Lance. People seem to think what they say online doesn't account in the real world : I have many friends who say things online which they never would in real life. Not to mention, the internet is open to all. I doubt someone would make such offensive statements on a megaphone in front of thousands of people - but posting something on the internet is the exact equivalent.

Yet, people seem to think, on the internet, there isn't as great an impact on the victim. Those who say such statements must be made accountable. Have I ever made a racist, ageist or sexist joke - I have, and I'm not proud of it. Sadly, as Lance said, our boundaries between humour and offence have been blurred. British people are seen as cynical and harsh (thank you, Mr Cowell), and this does nothing to help us.

Even worse was his victim - Fabrice Muamba, a footballer who collapsed with no prior hint of a problem at White Hart Lane. I was at the game and saw him laying on the ground with medics rushing to his aid. It was a horrifying incident which the entire crowd respected. And then this idiot thinks it's appropriate to "kick a man when he's down", so to speak.

Maybe 56 days could be considered harsh, but I feel a prison sentence was acceptable.

 

People don't get held accountable for things they say in the real world, so why should you be ON THE INTERNET? Could you imagine how many people would be in jail right now because they said something racist or just something the world felt was 'not nice' or 'poltically incorrect'? I think this is a load of bs, and the only reason they are taking this sort of action is because it was said about a soccer player, who's life was on the line at the time. Nothing more.

Just because the world doesn't like racists, doesn't mean you should be jailed for comments you make on a twitter account. He wasn't asking for fellow jihad bombers to join his cause, he wasn't organising a big movement against people of colour, so again, I fail to see how a jail sentence will make one bit of difference to how the majority of people act on line. I only mention the 'organising of this' sort of thing on line, because while I disaggree with a jail sentence , for what is essentially name calling, I do aggree with some sort of punishment for those that try to organise /terrorism/prostitution/child pornography etc through the internet.

There are more serious things we could be concerned with than one idiots racist comments. Send someone to jail who deserves it.

 

But we're also allowed freedom from harm. Freedom of speach ends when you are causing unnecessary harm to other.

Also lets be fair. Freedom of speach was set up to prevent people from being held back, not to alow people to hold others back. We're alowed to voice our opinions, yes. But purposefully hurting others is something different, and not to be encouraged.

If someone had said what he'd said in the croud how long would it be before someone punched him? How long would it be before someone knocked on his door and attacked him in retaliation to what he was "trolling"? The government is simply controlling hate crimes.

 

Having read the tweets it's clear the guy is a complete tool but that shouldn't be grounds for sending someone to prison. What I find even more worrying is that making comments that contain what people would consider racial hatred is now analogous to inciting racial hatred.

 

a) They should be

b) Saying something quietly won't get you in trouble but standing on a soap box in the middle of trafalga square with a megaphone screaming racist abuse would result in the police/public repremanding you.

Do you really want people like that in the world? Its a slippery slope from being willing to should abuse to turning the other way when things start to get violent.

 

Because most people are sensible enough not to say racist or offensive comments in front of a police officer on a permanent medium to a large crowd.

And that's what that guy did. He broke the law, his comment was viewed by many as utterly tasteless and offensive. I guess this was taken further as it did involve a famous footballer, but the point still stands. He broke the law. He just happened to break it at a time when everyone was thinking about a person, the person he had offended.

When the Criminal Prosecution Service has to look at whether they are to prosecute someone, they see if it is in the public interest. Sometimes it isn't, so the police merely give the offender a warning, but this time, it was.

 

My freedom ends where yours begins. Me saying something does not prevent you doing anything. Me beating you black and blue does. Harm in the sense you talk of does not mean "offence".

So how does this chap saying something nasty hold anyone back? You're right, freedom of speech is partly considered important because it stops people being held back from free expression, and that is precisely what is happening with this young man here.

You mean purposely offending others. This man hurts no-one. He inflicts no damage other than that which people choose to allow to be inflicted.

"Hate crimes" - such a nonsense double speak term. Who cares how long it would be before someone punched him or attacked him? Those are crimes because they would breach the freedom of another individual. This guy breached no-ones rights.

But we don't have freedom of speech in this country, so it doesn't matter that he did no actual harm to anyone, because we don't like what he said, so we'll lock him up for saying it.

Yes, I do want people like that in the real world. I want it because it doesn't harm anyone. There is no slippery slope between that and violence, there's a very clearly defined line between some nutter shouting all over the place and another nutter hitting him. The line being very much at the point where someone gets violent.

 

What was said?

 

Whilst I hate trolls with a passion and would love to gouge their eyes out with a fork, I'm with Spec, Greg & Krazeh on this.

If we lived in a truly intelligent society "offensive" words might be considered irritating but ultimately they would be deemed harmless. It is the offence taken that lends gravity to the situation. Just as it is my right to be offended it should equally be my right to offend. We all know that racism is just so passé in our society nowadays, and there will always be an subculture of idiots who can't let it go.

Put another way, we Westerners generally scratch our heads in bewilderment every time the mention of a burning Koran or a sketch of Mohammed causes riots and hate in certain Islamic cultures. Many of us consider that drawing a cartoon - whatever it represents - is a fundamental right. Why should we feel any different about words?

I've lost track of what's considered acceptable any more so I generally just keep my mouth shut on and offline

I've yet to feel genuinely offended by anything in nearly 30 years of life. I'm sure in some utopian parallel universe people would be able to rise above "offence" and get on with things, but the reality is that they can't.

Posted by SuicideNeil in the demote thread:

 

"LOL. **** Muamba. He's dead!!!" Was the first tweet, Yahoo didn't post the rest on their Sky News Aggregator.

Personally I don't care about this, his own university kicking him off his course was harsh enough. There's too many people out there trying to be offended on behalf of black people for what they can get out of it rather than being any help whatsoever.

If we put everyone in prison for being stupid, we'd have to concrete the UK over with new prisons but I can see the "kicking a man when down" angle.

 

I believe in free speech. I don't believe that individuals or the state have the right to dictate what can and cannot be said. It's also a fine line between suppressing speech and suppressing thought.

That said, in a way I'd be interested to hear exactly what this individual said. I suspect I already know -- probably the same sort of incoherent, ignorant rubbish that masquerades as discourse at the bottom of youtube videos.

If individuals no longer have the right to make stupid comments and sully their reputation, how will we know to avoid them?

 

A quick google search for "Liam Stacey tweets" will let you find what he said and tbh it is the same sort of incoherent, ignorant rubbish you expect to find in many places across the internet.

 

1 down, 5 million or so to go...

I think this is another example of institutions trying to retake the digital domain (or pretend to) when the horse has already bolted.

 

What bearing does that have on any of this? The whole incident has been over hyped by a tabloid press looking for a story. How many people in the UK are struck down by heart attacks or other serious illness's every day?

 

Harm? These are WORDS. If the Sun Newspaper and other tabloids, WHEN TO JAIL every time THEY 'CAUSED HARM', there would be no newspapers out there. (Granted they are crap but regardless, my point stands). What are we made of butter where some nasty comments melt us?

Do you think that when the decleration of independence, etc etc etc was created, there was anything saying that someone called called others the 'n' word? While I don't say freedom of speech if for saying whatever you like without consequence, I'm saying that if someone wants to say something back by all means, but also that what is said, and whether it matters, depends a lot on who says it. Do I care if some idiot on the internet is a racist? No. They're a dime a douzen. Do I care if someone running the country is? Yes. Imagine if someone was jailed every time a homophobic comment was made about a celebrity?


Thats just it, he wasn't 'standing on a soapbox in trafalgar square with a megaphone'. That's the difference between the internet, and trafalgar square, I don't HAVE TO sit and listen to it, unless I go looking for it. It's not about whether I want people like that in the world or not, it's whether we are going to lock every single person up that says something we think innapropriate.