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And this is why I'm never going to move to Europe. My jokes would be considered "obscene" or "indecent" or something and I'd be thrown in prison. At least here

And this is why I'm never going to move to Europe. My jokes would be considered "obscene" or "indecent" or something and I'd be thrown in prison. At least here in the States, for now, the government is letting the private companies perform the censorship, and not imprisoning people for tasteless humor.

mandmandam 5y ago
Who is getting thrown in to prison for jokes? Assange was thrown into jail for basic journalism, but that was at America's behest.
- drost 5y ago
  > Meechan was arrested on suspicion of breaching the Communications Act 2003.[20] On 19 March 2018, Meechan was convicted of breaching the act by Sheriff Derek O'Carroll at Airdrie Sheriff Court.[21] The court ruled that Meechan's claim that the video was a joke intended for his girlfriend "lacked credibility" as Meechan's girlfriend did not subscribe to the YouTube channel to which the video was posted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Meechan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Meechan
  - hypersoar 5y ago
    > On 23 April 2018, Meechan was sentenced to a fine of £800, with no prison sentence.
    - HNo 5y ago
      >Meechan was arrested Technically if you're arrested you're thrown in jail (overnight or for a few days).
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- mdp2021 5y ago
  In some countries legal bases were set for imprisoning people after jokes. Cassandra Vera Paz, Spanish, aged 22 during the event, was charged in 2016 with "injury to victims of terrorism", in the context of legislation "against the praising of terrorism", after she posted jokes on twitter - the homicide through explosives of Luis Carrero Blanco, ally to General Franco, by the Basque separatist group ETA, was related to a (NASA like) "space programme". She was condemned in 2017 to spend one year in prison (plus a year of "absolute disqualification" from public offices and aid). The ruling was reversed in 2018 by the Supreme Court, which called the jokes socially and morally reprehensible but not sufficient for penal sanction. Granddaughter Lucia Carrero Blanco reportedly wrote «I’m scared of a society in which freedom of expression, however regrettable it may be, can lead to jail sentences».
  - Levitz 5y ago
    So I'm actually Basque and I've gotta say this is a pretty specific scenario. This is part of a very reprehensible and long history of fighting against household terrorism, said history includes things such as torture on innocents or state terrorism. On top of that, the National Assembly has a bad reputation for pulling this kind of abusive stunts specifically when it's about "praising terrorism" and I don't think I personally know a single person who actually supports this. This is probably why the Supreme Court reversed the decision. On the other hand I do know many people who tell jokes about Carrero Blanco, or in even worse taste, Irene Villa, a journalist who lost both her legs in another attack with explosives from ETA. Remarkably Irene Villa is on record stating that she enjoys and supports jokes such as "What does Irene Villa do when her friends go and wax her legs? She varnishes hers". I believe this last bit to be relevant because no doubt that could be considered brutally offensive, literally making fun of a disabled person, but there is nobody offended here, it is, instead, recognized that humor is an important way of coping with a difficult reality, and the history of Basque terrorism is indeed a difficult one.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- lovecg 5y ago
  Depends on what you consider a “joke” I guess. In my view 2 months in jail over this seems excessive: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-58738771 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-58738771
13415 5y ago
You mean the UK, not Europe in general. The UK is not even part of the EU anymore and has been steering towards authoritarianism for two decades already - together with the US as their closest ally.
- maccolgan 5y ago
  The EU and its constituent countries aren't authoritarian?
  - tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
    Nowhere near that level, and most importantly, we tend to make fun of the US "Offense Olympics".
    - arp242 5y ago
      Plus, a lot of these ideas about some opinion "causing harm" or "silence is violence" and all of that are imported from the US. Even though it's not enacted in US law, the ideological roots are firmly there. Politics is the US' worst export product, whether it's the unhinged right and their nonsense or the unhinged left and their nonsense. I wish fewer people would pay attention to it.
- raxxorrax 5y ago
  The EU commission wants broad surveillance laws and doesn't really behave any differently, the implementation is different in detail, but moves towards the same ambitions. They don't understand the costs and are just slow to implement the same dragnet surveillance as the US did.
tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
In my experience, the range of socially acceptable jokes is far wider, and people make fun of what the US counts as offensive.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- CountDrewku 5y ago
  The difference is that even if it's considered socially unacceptable in the US it doesn't result in fines or imprisonment. Sounds like a much better deal to me.

mandmandam 5y ago

Who is getting thrown in to prison for jokes? Assange was thrown into jail for basic journalism, but that was at America's behest.

drost 5y ago
> Meechan was arrested on suspicion of breaching the Communications Act 2003.[20] On 19 March 2018, Meechan was convicted of breaching the act by Sheriff Derek O'Carroll at Airdrie Sheriff Court.[21] The court ruled that Meechan's claim that the video was a joke intended for his girlfriend "lacked credibility" as Meechan's girlfriend did not subscribe to the YouTube channel to which the video was posted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Meechan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Meechan
- hypersoar 5y ago
  > On 23 April 2018, Meechan was sentenced to a fine of £800, with no prison sentence.
  - HNo 5y ago
    >Meechan was arrested Technically if you're arrested you're thrown in jail (overnight or for a few days).
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
mdp2021 5y ago
In some countries legal bases were set for imprisoning people after jokes. Cassandra Vera Paz, Spanish, aged 22 during the event, was charged in 2016 with "injury to victims of terrorism", in the context of legislation "against the praising of terrorism", after she posted jokes on twitter - the homicide through explosives of Luis Carrero Blanco, ally to General Franco, by the Basque separatist group ETA, was related to a (NASA like) "space programme". She was condemned in 2017 to spend one year in prison (plus a year of "absolute disqualification" from public offices and aid). The ruling was reversed in 2018 by the Supreme Court, which called the jokes socially and morally reprehensible but not sufficient for penal sanction. Granddaughter Lucia Carrero Blanco reportedly wrote «I’m scared of a society in which freedom of expression, however regrettable it may be, can lead to jail sentences».
- Levitz 5y ago
  So I'm actually Basque and I've gotta say this is a pretty specific scenario. This is part of a very reprehensible and long history of fighting against household terrorism, said history includes things such as torture on innocents or state terrorism. On top of that, the National Assembly has a bad reputation for pulling this kind of abusive stunts specifically when it's about "praising terrorism" and I don't think I personally know a single person who actually supports this. This is probably why the Supreme Court reversed the decision. On the other hand I do know many people who tell jokes about Carrero Blanco, or in even worse taste, Irene Villa, a journalist who lost both her legs in another attack with explosives from ETA. Remarkably Irene Villa is on record stating that she enjoys and supports jokes such as "What does Irene Villa do when her friends go and wax her legs? She varnishes hers". I believe this last bit to be relevant because no doubt that could be considered brutally offensive, literally making fun of a disabled person, but there is nobody offended here, it is, instead, recognized that humor is an important way of coping with a difficult reality, and the history of Basque terrorism is indeed a difficult one.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
lovecg 5y ago
Depends on what you consider a “joke” I guess. In my view 2 months in jail over this seems excessive: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-58738771 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-58738771

13415 5y ago

You mean the UK, not Europe in general. The UK is not even part of the EU anymore and has been steering towards authoritarianism for two decades already - together with the US as their closest ally.

maccolgan 5y ago
The EU and its constituent countries aren't authoritarian?
- tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
  Nowhere near that level, and most importantly, we tend to make fun of the US "Offense Olympics".
  - arp242 5y ago
    Plus, a lot of these ideas about some opinion "causing harm" or "silence is violence" and all of that are imported from the US. Even though it's not enacted in US law, the ideological roots are firmly there. Politics is the US' worst export product, whether it's the unhinged right and their nonsense or the unhinged left and their nonsense. I wish fewer people would pay attention to it.
raxxorrax 5y ago
The EU commission wants broad surveillance laws and doesn't really behave any differently, the implementation is different in detail, but moves towards the same ambitions. They don't understand the costs and are just slow to implement the same dragnet surveillance as the US did.

tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago

In my experience, the range of socially acceptable jokes is far wider, and people make fun of what the US counts as offensive.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
CountDrewku 5y ago
The difference is that even if it's considered socially unacceptable in the US it doesn't result in fines or imprisonment. Sounds like a much better deal to me.