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Jailed for trolling on the internet
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-11650593
This is so wrong I don't know where to start.
WTF???
I'm not sure there's even a debate to be had about it tbh, since surely we must all be in agreement. Is there anyone here who thinks jailing someone for trolling is justified?
This is so wrong I don't know where to start.
WTF???
I'm not sure there's even a debate to be had about it tbh, since surely we must all be in agreement. Is there anyone here who thinks jailing someone for trolling is justified?
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
0
Comments
GoS is just annoying, this guy on the other hand...
The way the relevant legislation is worded (vague and ambiguous in my opinion), he could well have been convicted even he had been telling the truth about his sexual activities.
This guy wasn't trolling. He was sending abusive messages over the public network. It's completely different to sitting as an anonymous user on a message board and telling other anonymous users that you don't like them or arguing with them about nothing.
Maybe Jail isn't appropriate, but the guy was causing distress. Sending messages to people over facebook and setting up groups about them is no different to ringing them up or telling it to their face. Just because they're sat behind a keyboard doesn't make it any less of a crime.
Does it not ?
This case was by reference to the Communications Act 2003.
There are many legal exceptions when communicating "to their face".
Parliamentary privilege is one (notwithstanding the use of unparliamentary language).
What of yourself ? Despite the rules laid down in PACE 1984, I am sure you could tailor your words to such effect when questioning suspects, could you not ?
http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Portal:DeviantART
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1324802/Thug-kicked-terminally-ill-grandfather-head-walks-free-court.html
Agreed. My disbelief is the handing out of a custodial sentence.
Incidentally, as most people here agree that his actions did merit some sort of punishment, do you think this is much different from the Westboro church lot insulting dead people at their own funerals and taunting their relatives? I'm only asking because many of you at the time said it was wrong for the government to stop them from coming to Britain and doing just that...
Otherwise, it seems to me, we're saying that if someone wants to be a cunt for their own amusement it should be punishable, but if they genuinely believe their being a cunt is the right thing to do, it is perfectly legal.
The comments of the very technically minded Slashdot community on this make an interesting read.
Also, they don't need to use the C word to make their arguments sound compelling.
The Mail "preyed on bereaved families" for its "own pleasure", the Press Complaints Council heard.
The paper was charged with sending malicious communications that were grossly offensive. The posts included comments claiming the victims had brought it upon themselves by being asylum-seeking homosexual Poles who caused EU cancer.
it was only caught when it sent residents copies of itself saying "FREE DVD FOR EVERY READER."
The term "troll" was described in court as someone who creates numerous identities, called "columnists," and then posts offensive bollocks to upset or provoke a reaction from others and gain page hits and advertising revenue.
"You preyed on bereaved families who were suffering trauma and anxiety," said chairwoman of the bench Pauline Salisbury. "We know you gained pleasure and you aren't sorry for what you did."
The paper has been convicted of sending "malicious communications" and the editor has been given a knighthood and a rôle as official advisor on government policy.
The defence raised possible mental health issues, but this was dismissed by the bench.
I don't do formal taped interviews, if i'm questioning someone it's short and to the point. I certainly don't go all Gene Hunt on them.
All I was saying is that there is a misheld belief amongst the public that because you're sat in the safety of your room behind a screen you can say what you like to people, that somehow it must be different than walking up to someone and gobbing off at them, or sending them abusive text messages.
It isn't. This isn't some bloke leaving snotty messages on a forum, this was a bloke who was deliberately targetting people and being abusive to them.
Jail is excessive (although it gives me a good recent example to use when I'm dealing with Facebook incidents) but the guy deserved punishment.