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You and I are UK citizens for the moment. I assert that your comment here is grossly indecent and offensive to me. Will the UK government summon you for mandato

You and I are UK citizens for the moment. I assert that your comment here is grossly indecent and offensive to me. Will the UK government summon you for mandatory interrogation due to my complaint, or will they dismiss me out of hand? Obviously the latter, therefore the content itself is held to some standard. Show me that standard, and I'll show you an ideology.

notavalleyman 4y ago
> Obviously the latter Not obvious at all. If you can explain to the cops why you found it offensive, it's conceivable to me that I'd be interviewed about it
- kelnos 4y ago
  Then British citizens should be absolutely terrified of their government, because they've given their government the power to arrest them for literally no reason at all. The idea that the police can have the authority to detain someone because they have a reasonable belief that they hurt someone else's feelings is... well, if y'all don't see the obvious problem with that, I'm not sure how else to explain it.
  - notavalleyman 4y ago
    > should be absolutely terrified of their government, because they've given their government the power to arrest them for literally no reason at all Would this opinion change if you learned that in the UK people are generally trusted to make correct and true police crime reports? Say you lived in a place where actually 100% of reports to the police, were truly people who felt like a crime had taken place. In that case, wouldn't we be fine with cops following up all reports? So if people in the UK generally trust each other to be making true reports when they feel like a crime has taken place....why wouldn't brits empower the police to follow up on serious reports?
    - kelnos 4y ago
      > Would this opinion change if you learned that in the UK people are generally trusted to make correct and true police crime reports? No, not at all, because "generally trusted" is not "100% of the time people will do things in good faith". And I don't agree with your assessment in any case; the article in question is a clear counter-example. And another comment somewhere here claims that the UK deals with quite a large amount of these sorts of reports where the police investigate and decide there's nothing to pursue. > Say you lived in a place where actually 100% of reports to the police, were truly people who felt like a crime had taken place. In that case, wouldn't we be fine with cops following up all reports? That depends on what you mean by "following-up". If tweeting something that made someone "anxious" means that you can expect the police to show up at your door and demand to interview you (or else you will be arrested), I think that's incredibly heavy-handed. In this case, the police should have been able to look at the tweet in question, think "hmm, well, that's a shitty thing to post, but I don't see anything criminal here", and leave it at that. > So if people in the UK generally trust each other to be making true reports when they feel like a crime has taken place....why wouldn't brits empower the police to follow up on serious reports? I've already pointed out that I don't believe this is true in general, but there's more to it than that. People change. Governments change. The law often does not. If you give one government the power to do something, because you believe that government is good and will not abuse it, you must consider that the next government may not be one that you trust as much, but will also get to have that power.
- homonculus1 4y ago
  I express many unpopular opinions online, including right here on Hackernews. If offending people online is a criminal offense, then my freedom and standing in law-abiding society are at risk. Your posts are genuinely and seriously offensive to me because you are defending something which poses a direct material threat against me personally, as a hypothetical UK citizen. Is it conceivable that the UK government would actually interview you to protect me against itself?

notavalleyman 4y ago

> Obviously the latter Not obvious at all. If you can explain to the cops why you found it offensive, it's conceivable to me that I'd be interviewed about it

kelnos 4y ago
Then British citizens should be absolutely terrified of their government, because they've given their government the power to arrest them for literally no reason at all. The idea that the police can have the authority to detain someone because they have a reasonable belief that they hurt someone else's feelings is... well, if y'all don't see the obvious problem with that, I'm not sure how else to explain it.
- notavalleyman 4y ago
  > should be absolutely terrified of their government, because they've given their government the power to arrest them for literally no reason at all Would this opinion change if you learned that in the UK people are generally trusted to make correct and true police crime reports? Say you lived in a place where actually 100% of reports to the police, were truly people who felt like a crime had taken place. In that case, wouldn't we be fine with cops following up all reports? So if people in the UK generally trust each other to be making true reports when they feel like a crime has taken place....why wouldn't brits empower the police to follow up on serious reports?
  - kelnos 4y ago
    > Would this opinion change if you learned that in the UK people are generally trusted to make correct and true police crime reports? No, not at all, because "generally trusted" is not "100% of the time people will do things in good faith". And I don't agree with your assessment in any case; the article in question is a clear counter-example. And another comment somewhere here claims that the UK deals with quite a large amount of these sorts of reports where the police investigate and decide there's nothing to pursue. > Say you lived in a place where actually 100% of reports to the police, were truly people who felt like a crime had taken place. In that case, wouldn't we be fine with cops following up all reports? That depends on what you mean by "following-up". If tweeting something that made someone "anxious" means that you can expect the police to show up at your door and demand to interview you (or else you will be arrested), I think that's incredibly heavy-handed. In this case, the police should have been able to look at the tweet in question, think "hmm, well, that's a shitty thing to post, but I don't see anything criminal here", and leave it at that. > So if people in the UK generally trust each other to be making true reports when they feel like a crime has taken place....why wouldn't brits empower the police to follow up on serious reports? I've already pointed out that I don't believe this is true in general, but there's more to it than that. People change. Governments change. The law often does not. If you give one government the power to do something, because you believe that government is good and will not abuse it, you must consider that the next government may not be one that you trust as much, but will also get to have that power.
homonculus1 4y ago
I express many unpopular opinions online, including right here on Hackernews. If offending people online is a criminal offense, then my freedom and standing in law-abiding society are at risk. Your posts are genuinely and seriously offensive to me because you are defending something which poses a direct material threat against me personally, as a hypothetical UK citizen. Is it conceivable that the UK government would actually interview you to protect me against itself?