Twitter is outrageous at the moment The amount of people being threatened with rape, being burned alive, and family members getting dragged in to abuse is appalling. Colleen Nolan was threatend with the first two this week, and some other sportsman had the same threats about his mother. Bit disturbing to be honest
I get that, but we have to tread very carefully, when entering the realms of censorship. This is the age where OJ gets away with murder, yet Bradley Manning & Julian Assange become PE #1, for telling the truth.
There's censorship and then there's not allowing people to get away with tweeting pictures of knives and guns to journalists and celebrities saying 'I know where you live'. Two different issues if you ask me
Re: Twitter is outrageous at the moment That's how power and censorship works. Highlight the bad things and use them to close down mainstream channels of free speech, grievance and communication.
The problem is...judging from the comments from the B&HA supporters and the CPS spokespeople is where the line is drawn. Banter such as might be aimed at a B&HA player (given the association with a high proportion of Gay people living in Brighton) that is not malicious is deemed by the PC brigade as " highly offensive". For example, Someone shouting " is your boyfriend watching in the stands?" at a B&HA player could be prosecuted for homophobic remarks. So where does 'sledging' become offensive behaviour? Whilst I don't condone MALICIOUS sexist racist comments as far as I can see, Britain is screwed, since anyone with a laptop in an attic can form a protest group and pass judgement on all and sundry. Most of the jokes about disability I heard when I used to assess / teach disabled people to drive came from the disabled themselves. Many of these jokes would certainly land an abled bodied person in court if one of the PC 'indignation by proxy' brigade were to overhear them. Ironically, 'taking the p*ss' out of each other and making light or mocking a mates' misfortunes and mis-haps is how males 'bond' It starts at school and carries on pretty much into late adulthood. Witness the smug satisfaction people get from programs like 'You've been framed' How long before it is deemed 'unPC' to laugh at that?? If we cant make jokes about national/regional/physical traits (usually through stereotyping) or about each other without someone, somewhere taking offence we may as well revert to puritanism and ban dancing, film, theatre, TV, comedy clubs en mass. Rant over!!
And "seeking to change the governments mind" by the formation of any group, can be a terrorist act. Legislation says so.
apparently 38 degrees (an internet forum/pressure group) are now fighting some hastily put together legislation that, if passed, will make any petitions debate etc against political decisions an illegal act anand those running the website could be imprisoned. Purportedly it is to prevent lobbying during election campaigns but it is so badly written (or is it??) that it is a 'catch-all'
Julian Assange isn't the best example to use. OJ may have gotten away with murder but he at least stood trial for the crime.