Man arrested for Glasgow crash tweet

Fretwired

One of the downsides of social media. It gives a voice to people who are easily offended and who feel because they are offended the authorities must act. This snowballs into an online mob mentality which frightens the politicians and police into making stupid decisions, especially with an election looming.

In a similar vein a leaked Sony memo suggests that Idris Elba should be the next James Bond - social media is now full of Tweets and messages about how Bond is white .. blah, blah, blah. Some of the comments are racist - I wonder if anything will be done? I seriously doubt it. Personally I think a Luther style Bond would be cool so Idris gets my vote ...

breakstuff

I've just read the tweet.Crass,insensitive and extremely bad taste,but an arrestable offence?

In the interest of consistency I suggest the police go round to Frankie Boyles house and arrest him immediately.

Gassage

What I can't reconcile is freedom of speech versus offensive tweets.

Which is the ruling law?

If I tweeted 'In my opinion the Queen is a sponging bitch' which may or may not be my feelings, how could I be prosecuted?

Sambostar

The whole country is being governed like a public school with the school governors on the take, whilst the real criminals are untouchable as the powers that be are too sacred of them, for fucks sake. 

Unfortunately, it's pretty much what you would expect when everyone in political power, including the puppet police commissioners are a career politician whose only experience of real life is the discipline they received in public school.

Meanwhile it is pretty typical to expect everything to be orientated around political correctness by the taste police when we live in a spoon fed media culture.

Not everyone gets on, people fight and have differing views, people make bad jokes, people take offence, this is what happens in a free country, but obviously not in this one.

The whole things is just sad indictment on modern British political rule.

I'm off to watch some face sitting porn with people pissing on each other, for Christ's sake.

I think the thing that angers me the most is that they want to impose their political will, be it for votes or through idealism, and discipline on people who live in sub cultures so far removed from the pursed privilege of public school that it beyond their comprehension.  Nothing ever comes back to bite them because they are so far removed from reality in their glass towers.

randomhandclaps

Gassage said:

If I tweeted 'In my opinion the Queen is a sponging bitch' which may or may not be my feelings, how could I be prosecuted?

Believe me they'd find a way.  

Sambostar

The Queen is a sponging bitch though.

Fretwired

Gassage said:

If I tweeted 'In my opinion the Queen is a sponging bitch' which may or may not be my feelings, how could I be prosecuted?

It would depend on the social-media-o-meter ... if enough people are outraged then you're off to jail. We could do away with jury's and have trial by Twitter.

bingefeller

Fretwired said:

Gassage said:

If I tweeted 'In my opinion the Queen is a sponging bitch' which may or may not be my feelings, how could I be prosecuted?

It would depend on the social-media-o-meter ... if enough people are outraged then you're off to jail. We could do away with jury's and have trial by Twitter.

lol 

FelineGuitars

Funny - if you called the police to come and arrest someone who had insulted you or offended you they'd tell you to grow up (or walk away).

But tweet it and you get arrested - daft.

Especially daft when they ignore more serious real crimes or are unable to investigate theft or suchlike.

VimFuego

we had an interesting situation happen here over the summer. Local farmer is also a contractor, does land working big diggers and all that and has a yard full of different types. Now, our nearest 24 hour cop shop is okehampton, about 1/2 hour away and we never see routine patrols round here (it is an incredibly low crime area) however we had a spate of heating oil and red diesel thefts, including from this chap. Shit happens I guess. What was interesting was that he was stopped in one of his tractors one day (not long after the theft) by customs for driving on the roads while using red diesel, which is allowed if your main business is farming, however cos he's also a contractor, they impounded his wagon. The interesting part was that with the customs bods were 2 cop cars with 2 coppers each. So they can't spare a car to do a routine patrol of the hinterlands, but can spare 2 to do a bit of revenue collecting.

Stevepage

I find it strange how they can arrest a fool for an offensive tweet but can't arrest some one who openly hates this country and promotes this hatred on the streets as often as possible.

If you like to think you enforce free speech then it must be free speech for the whole population, that's democracy. Though I see democracy in this country only working for those with money who provide money for their MP friends in Parliament and House of Lords.

bingefeller

Stevepage said:

I find it strange how they can arrest a fool for an offensive tweet but can't arrest some one who openly hates this country and promotes this hatred on the streets as often as possible.

If you like to think you enforce free speech then it must be free speech for the whole population, that's democracy. Though I see democracy in this country only working for those with money who provide money for their MP friends in Parliament and House of Lords.

Exactly!  

Fretwired

VimFuego said:

we had an interesting situation happen here over the summer. Local farmer is also a contractor, does land working big diggers and all that and has a yard full of different types. Now, our nearest 24 hour cop shop is okehampton, about 1/2 hour away and we never see routine patrols round here (it is an incredibly low crime area) however we had a spate of heating oil and red diesel thefts, including from this chap. Shit happens I guess. What was interesting was that he was stopped in one of his tractors one day (not long after the theft) by customs for driving on the roads while using red diesel, which is allowed if your main business is farming, however cos he's also a contractor, they impounded his wagon. The interesting part was that with the customs bods were 2 cop cars with 2 coppers each. So they can't spare a car to do a routine patrol of the hinterlands, but can spare 2 to do a bit of revenue collecting.

The revenue guys are now incentivised through bonuses to catch cheats and the police can keep a percentage of fine money. You never see a policeman on the beat where I live but you always see a small army of traffic cops hiding behind trees with camera guns or parked up in white vans with cameras.

randomhandclaps

VimFuego said:

we had an interesting situation happen here over the summer. Local farmer is also a contractor, does land working big diggers and all that and has a yard full of different types. Now, our nearest 24 hour cop shop is okehampton, about 1/2 hour away and we never see routine patrols round here (it is an incredibly low crime area) however we had a spate of heating oil and red diesel thefts, including from this chap. Shit happens I guess. What was interesting was that he was stopped in one of his tractors one day (not long after the theft) by customs for driving on the roads while using red diesel, which is allowed if your main business is farming, however cos he's also a contractor, they impounded his wagon. The interesting part was that with the customs bods were 2 cop cars with 2 coppers each. So they can't spare a car to do a routine patrol of the hinterlands, but can spare 2 to do a bit of revenue collecting.

The problem with criticising the Police for chasing taxes is it ignores the repeatedly demonstrated criminal career path of 'Fuel Tax Dodger' to 'International Terrorist'.  I'd say we (as in society) just got lucky that he was intercepted at this point, before he started sourcing uranium for a dirty bomb.  "Go the police".

Wolfetone

fretmeister said:

I am getting more and more concerned at the recent attempts to make being offensive an actual criminal offence.

There are people that will cause incredible hurt for the sake of a few cheap laughs. Why should they get away with it? I recall seeing incredibly malicious 'jokes' at the time of Madeline McCann's disappearance and my view, you could say that those poor parents had been a victim of a type of assault.

VimFuego

people who say deeply offensive things should be shamed, but the state shouldn't be getting involved. If it did, where would it end? A couple having an argument, some unpleasant things get said, should the police get involved? Kids arguing in the playground? If we all got arrested cos we said something offensive to someone half of us would have criminal convictions.

FelineGuitars

I think we have too much news coverage these days, and then coverage on what people have said about the news and then news agencies stirring the pot in an attempt to get more news. 

Add to that the political slant and spin put on every story and it all becomes unwatchable/unreadable.

My present to myself will be to watch less news and play more guitar.

bingefeller

VimFuego said:

people who say deeply offensive things should be shamed, but the state shouldn't be getting involved. If it did, where would it end? A couple having an argument, some unpleasant things get said, should the police get involved? Kids arguing in the playground? If we all got arrested cos we said something offensive to someone half of us would have criminal convictions.

What is offensive is subjective though.  

It's funny that these arrests are always made from either Facebook or Twitter.  I don't recall ever hearing about anyone going to court over a forum post.  I do remember reading about a case on usenet whereby a local police office actually posted and asked people to calm down after a thread, which lasted months, eventually turned into death threats, but no arrests were ever made.  

Wolfetone

bingefeller said:

VimFuego said:

people who say deeply offensive things should be shamed, but the state shouldn't be getting involved. If it did, where would it end? A couple having an argument, some unpleasant things get said, should the police get involved? Kids arguing in the playground? If we all got arrested cos we said something offensive to someone half of us would have criminal convictions.

What is offensive is subjective though.  

It's difficult to decide where the line is drawn but where there has been a death, rape, fatal accident surely common decency dictates certain behaviour and comment is offensive and can cause incredible suffering. 

Wolfetone

VimFuego said:

If we all got arrested cos we said something offensive to someone half of us would have criminal convictions.

Perhaps we shouldn't say offensive things to people then. Are we obliged to do so?