4 ms·

It's certainly the medium playing a role. People in the UK get arrested for expressing an opinion on Twitter that they wouldn't if they were talking to a friend

It's certainly the medium playing a role. People in the UK get arrested for expressing an opinion on Twitter that they wouldn't if they were talking to a friend. You can't compare the actions of UK police arresting people for harmless tweets to things like threats of violence in the US.

foldr 3y ago
> People in the UK get arrested for expressing an opinion on Twitter that they wouldn't if they were talking to a friend. That's obviously because a tweet is more public. Again, there are lots of countries where you can get arrested for publicly saying something that's 'harmless' as far as the First Ammendment is concerned. There's nothing particularly notable about the UK in this respect. A simple Google search will turn up examples of people being arrested and detained in the US for similarly silly reasons, e.g.: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_tourist.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri...
- PrimeMcFly 3y ago
  > That's obviously because a tweet is more public. That doesn't justify it at all. > Again, there are lots of countries where you can get arrested for publicly saying something that's 'harmless' as far as the First Ammendment is concerned. There's nothing particularly notable about the UK in this respect. You're in denial. People in the UK get arrested for mundane things and there is no equivalent on the US. > A simple Google search will turn up examples of people being arrested and detained in the US for similarly silly reasons, e.g.: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri... I agree the example in the article was silly, but the people were not US citizens but were looking to enter the country, and had joked about destroying the USA. It was bad judgement to arrest them, but not the same as being arrested for wondering if transwomen competing in female sports is fair.
  - foldr 3y ago
    >That doesn't justify it at all. I did not say it was justified. But you can't seriously be wondering why people don't typically get arrested for things they say in private conversations. The question answers itself. >You're in denial. People in the UK get arrested for mundane things and there is no equivalent on the US. They occasionally get arrested for saying some things that would be protected under the First Amendment in the US. I'll try making my point one more time: Very few countries have the same level of protection for free speech as the US. So it is easy to find examples of people being arrested in countries other than the US for saying things that would have been protected under the First Amendment in the US. (For example, hate speech can get you arrested in many countries, but not in the US.) There is nothing particularly notable about the UK in this regard, either worldwide or compared to other European countries. Also, you could stand to Google a bit harder for US examples: https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/new-hampshire-police-arrested-man-being-mean-them-internet https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/new-hampshire-police-a...
    - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
      > I did not say it was justified. But you can't seriously be wondering why people don't typically get arrested for things they say in private conversations. The question answers itself. The point is people get arrested in the UK for mundane things, when they shouldn't. Just because it's public doesn't make it arrestable. People could stand in a park on a soapbox and not be arrested. > There is nothing particularly notable about the UK in this regard, either worldwide or compared to other European countries. The problem I have is that in the UK what constitutes hatespeech has been spread very, very thin. I've seen numerous stories about police showing up to someone's door in the UK for a tweet, for 'hatespeech'. I've read no such stories of that happening in Australia, NZ, Canada, or western European countries. So saying it's common in countries that have some form of free speech without it being as strong as the first amendment doesn't seem to fly. It seems to happen far more frequently in the UK. And the UK has recently started jailing protestors for their speech also. Not for hate speech or making violent threats. Free speech in the UK might just be the lowest of any first world country, and certainly of any English speaking country.

foldr 3y ago

> People in the UK get arrested for expressing an opinion on Twitter that they wouldn't if they were talking to a friend. That's obviously because a tweet is more public. Again, there are lots of countries where you can get arrested for publicly saying something that's 'harmless' as far as the First Ammendment is concerned. There's nothing particularly notable about the UK in this respect. A simple Google search will turn up examples of people being arrested and detained in the US for similarly silly reasons, e.g.: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_tourist.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri...

PrimeMcFly 3y ago
> That's obviously because a tweet is more public. That doesn't justify it at all. > Again, there are lots of countries where you can get arrested for publicly saying something that's 'harmless' as far as the First Ammendment is concerned. There's nothing particularly notable about the UK in this respect. You're in denial. People in the UK get arrested for mundane things and there is no equivalent on the US. > A simple Google search will turn up examples of people being arrested and detained in the US for similarly silly reasons, e.g.: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri... I agree the example in the article was silly, but the people were not US citizens but were looking to enter the country, and had joked about destroying the USA. It was bad judgement to arrest them, but not the same as being arrested for wondering if transwomen competing in female sports is fair.
- foldr 3y ago
  >That doesn't justify it at all. I did not say it was justified. But you can't seriously be wondering why people don't typically get arrested for things they say in private conversations. The question answers itself. >You're in denial. People in the UK get arrested for mundane things and there is no equivalent on the US. They occasionally get arrested for saying some things that would be protected under the First Amendment in the US. I'll try making my point one more time: Very few countries have the same level of protection for free speech as the US. So it is easy to find examples of people being arrested in countries other than the US for saying things that would have been protected under the First Amendment in the US. (For example, hate speech can get you arrested in many countries, but not in the US.) There is nothing particularly notable about the UK in this regard, either worldwide or compared to other European countries. Also, you could stand to Google a bit harder for US examples: https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/new-hampshire-police-arrested-man-being-mean-them-internet https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/new-hampshire-police-a...
  - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
    > I did not say it was justified. But you can't seriously be wondering why people don't typically get arrested for things they say in private conversations. The question answers itself. The point is people get arrested in the UK for mundane things, when they shouldn't. Just because it's public doesn't make it arrestable. People could stand in a park on a soapbox and not be arrested. > There is nothing particularly notable about the UK in this regard, either worldwide or compared to other European countries. The problem I have is that in the UK what constitutes hatespeech has been spread very, very thin. I've seen numerous stories about police showing up to someone's door in the UK for a tweet, for 'hatespeech'. I've read no such stories of that happening in Australia, NZ, Canada, or western European countries. So saying it's common in countries that have some form of free speech without it being as strong as the first amendment doesn't seem to fly. It seems to happen far more frequently in the UK. And the UK has recently started jailing protestors for their speech also. Not for hate speech or making violent threats. Free speech in the UK might just be the lowest of any first world country, and certainly of any English speaking country.