4 ms·

To me it seems the reason people are being so pedantic about the meaning of “thought crime” is that they’re actually glad this sort of thing happens. I don’t ev

by jrs95 8y ago

To me it seems the reason people are being so pedantic about the meaning of “thought crime” is that they’re actually glad this sort of thing happens. I don’t even agree with Tommy Robinson but this sort of thing is incredibly dangerous. We cannot be free if the state has the power to arrest people who disagree with them. Period. This must be an absolute right regardless of your fee-fees being hurt, or the next thing you know the West will be bankrolling the Israelis to genocide the Palestinians and it’ll be illegal for you to say anything about it.

DanBC 8y ago
Can you tell me which country allows people to threaten witnesses at trial?Which country allows reporters to call a defendent a muslim child rapist before the verdict is reached?
- jrs95 8y ago
  If it had been the other way around and some white guy was being called a “Nazi child rapist”, I’d expect them to get away with it in pretty much any western country. It’s true that his behavior was illegal, but the reason he was prosecuted was ultimately the content of his speech in my opinion. There have been other right wing figures who’s names I don’t recall who were also recently convicted, and they weren’t speaking in a court room at all. Other anecdotes mentioned above were French pro-Palestine activists. You’re right that Robinson was in the wrong on this one and that he did commit a crime; I wouldn’t have used him as an example had he not been brought up specifically. Even in the U.S., there are people actively lobbying to use the government, usually state governments, to restrict the BDS movement. In my opinion there’s been a lot of media attention around silencing right wing speech in order to get the left to comply in undermining the underlying legal principles. But at the same time, quieter work is being done to restrict left wing speech as well. This has already been put in place in Europe and there seems to be bipartisan support for it in the U.S.
  - DanBC 8y ago
    I'd have a bit more sympathy if he hadn't previously done exactly the same thing, and been given a suspended sentence and a clear unambiguous warning from a judge not to do it again. He's not being silenced because he's right wing. He's being silenced because he's jeopardising trials and threatening witnesses.

by jrs95 8y ago

DanBC 8y ago

Can you tell me which country allows people to threaten witnesses at trial?Which country allows reporters to call a defendent a muslim child rapist before the verdict is reached?

jrs95 8y ago
If it had been the other way around and some white guy was being called a “Nazi child rapist”, I’d expect them to get away with it in pretty much any western country. It’s true that his behavior was illegal, but the reason he was prosecuted was ultimately the content of his speech in my opinion. There have been other right wing figures who’s names I don’t recall who were also recently convicted, and they weren’t speaking in a court room at all. Other anecdotes mentioned above were French pro-Palestine activists. You’re right that Robinson was in the wrong on this one and that he did commit a crime; I wouldn’t have used him as an example had he not been brought up specifically. Even in the U.S., there are people actively lobbying to use the government, usually state governments, to restrict the BDS movement. In my opinion there’s been a lot of media attention around silencing right wing speech in order to get the left to comply in undermining the underlying legal principles. But at the same time, quieter work is being done to restrict left wing speech as well. This has already been put in place in Europe and there seems to be bipartisan support for it in the U.S.
- DanBC 8y ago
  I'd have a bit more sympathy if he hadn't previously done exactly the same thing, and been given a suspended sentence and a clear unambiguous warning from a judge not to do it again. He's not being silenced because he's right wing. He's being silenced because he's jeopardising trials and threatening witnesses.