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Hacker, yes. News - probably not. I've depressingly come to accept this as part of being British.

by elthran 10y ago

sevenless 10y ago
I've heard China's less restrictive in some ways. You can't call for the overthrow of the government in China or read about Tienanmen Square, but in Britain mildly positive remarks about designated terrorist groups or disparaging speech about minorities (like the man who argued with a Muslim woman and posted about it on Twitter) can get you arrested. Even if this isn't true there's a perception of monitoring and risk which chills speech. Britain doesn't need too many lessons from the USA, but one exception would be the First Amendment.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- DanBC 10y ago
  > like the man who argued with a Muslim woman and posted about it on Twitter) can get you arrested. The important part is "argued with a Muslim woman" - in real life, AFK. Not "then posted about it on Twitter". But the CPS were very clear that the police should not have arrested him, and that they definitely should not have charged him, and that the CPS would not prosecute.
  - sevenless 10y ago
    The important part, in my view, is "arrested". We have a police force that feels empowered to arrest people for what they say on Twitter and Facebook. And this wasn't the only occasion. The effect of this kind of thing on what we feel free to say in public shouldn't be ignored.
    - DanBC 10y ago
      They did not arrest him for what he said on twitter. They arrested him because he confronted a woman in the street to racially harass her. Twitter is just how they found out about it.
  - M2Ys4U 10y ago
    >But the CPS were very clear that the police should not have arrested him, and that they definitely should not have charged him, and that the CPS would not prosecute. The police didn't have the authority to charge him - they needed the permission of the Attorney General first and they didn't bother to get it.

Hacker, yes. News - probably not. I've depressingly come to accept this as part of being British.

by elthran 10y ago

Hacker, yes. News - probably not. I've depressingly come to accept this as part of being British.

I've heard China's less restrictive in some ways. You can't call for the overthrow of the government in China or read about Tienanmen Square, but in Britain mildly positive remarks about designated terrorist groups or disparaging speech about minorities (like the man who argued with a Muslim woman and posted about it on Twitter) can get you arrested. Even if this isn't true there's a perception of monitoring and risk which chills speech. Britain doesn't need too many lessons from the USA, but one exception would be the First Amendment.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
DanBC 10y ago
> like the man who argued with a Muslim woman and posted about it on Twitter) can get you arrested. The important part is "argued with a Muslim woman" - in real life, AFK. Not "then posted about it on Twitter". But the CPS were very clear that the police should not have arrested him, and that they definitely should not have charged him, and that the CPS would not prosecute.
- sevenless 10y ago
  The important part, in my view, is "arrested". We have a police force that feels empowered to arrest people for what they say on Twitter and Facebook. And this wasn't the only occasion. The effect of this kind of thing on what we feel free to say in public shouldn't be ignored.
  - DanBC 10y ago
    They did not arrest him for what he said on twitter. They arrested him because he confronted a woman in the street to racially harass her. Twitter is just how they found out about it.
- M2Ys4U 10y ago
  >But the CPS were very clear that the police should not have arrested him, and that they definitely should not have charged him, and that the CPS would not prosecute. The police didn't have the authority to charge him - they needed the permission of the Attorney General first and they didn't bother to get it.