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BBC Says It May Contact Your Boss If You Post Comments It Finds Problematic

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Re: BBC Says It May Contact Your Boss If You Post Comments It Finds Problematic

#61

Post by logfromblammo »

Zenst wrote: post #16
utternerd wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you post or send offensive, inappropriate or objectionable content Unfortunately it's not confined to simply "harassment" but anything "offensive, inappropriate or objectionable" by their own wording, which is highly subjective. If there's a legal issue, BBC should contact law enforcement, but beyond that informing others feels entirely punitive.

BBC staff caught watching TV without a TV liscense are subject to instant dismissal. Been the case for eons that company rule and that seems perfectly fair. But that is clear cut and defined upfront in the employment contract. This as you highlight is subjective and no clearly defined lines and that as you say is the job of the police. Indeed this action by them does open them up to the police being involved against…

That doesn't seem "perfectly fair"; it seems needlessly stupid.

If it is really that important, the company should just purchase the licenses for their employees, as a perquisite. Then it no longer has the need to police the private lives of its workers, in order to see if they need to be fired for illicit, unlicensed television-watching.

Re: BBC Says It May Contact Your Boss If You Post Comments It Finds Problematic

#63

Post by dboreham »

CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #6

Wow, that's confusing. I know that I know very little about U.K. law, so I would appreciate if someone there could answer: - Do employers typically have law-enforcement duties? - Is there a legal presumption of innocence---until proven otherwise---as there is in the U.S.? - Besides TV Licenses, is the BBC a judicial entity? I'm just trying to understand why the BBC may notify a non-law-enforcement agency about a poss…

Some aspects of UK and US culture are quite different and I suspect this is one. It has been a while since I lived there but I think the general idea is that it is silly to waste law enforcement resources on absolutely everything. Some things can be dealt with outside of the police and courts. Even the US has this with the RIAA/MPAA able to "tattle" on people who are file sharing directly to their ISP without a police report being filed.

Re: BBC Says It May Contact Your Boss If You Post Comments It Finds Problematic

#64

Post by [deleted] »

nsnick wrote: post #45
Veen wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anything you choose to publish on the BBC's website is their business. It's not as though they're going around looking for naughty posts on third-party websites and tattling about it. There is no automatic right to anonymity when posting on someone else's website. If you post something publicly, surely the expectation is that you're fine with anyone seeing it. If the BBC chooses to share that with your boss, why is i…

It doesn't matter whose business it is, the BBC still can't use communication between you and the BBC to interfere in a relationship you have with your employer that is illegal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortious_interference

[deleted]

Re: BBC Says It May Contact Your Boss If You Post Comments It Finds Problematic

#65

Post by drspacemonkey »

mavdi wrote: post #15
drspacemonkey wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem comes down to the definition of "harassment". I've encountered my fair share of people, some in positions of authority and/or should know better, who honestly believe that disagreement or impolite comments constitute "harassment". Frankly, I'm not at all comfortable with a global media outlet reserving the right to try to get people fired in private for internet comments.

How about we start with racism? Some things are a grey area but some are downright harassment.

A racist comment can be rude, disrespectful, mean, or ignorant without being harassment. Then there's the more complicated issue of the term "racism", which I think you'll concur does not have a universally-agreed-upon definition.

By all means, delete such comments and ban the offending commenters (or even report them to the police if applicable), but reserving the right to try to get people fired is going too far. Internet vigilante justice is ugly and brutal, and I am not at all comfortable with the BBC getting involved in that game.

Re: BBC Says It May Contact Your Boss If You Post Comments It Finds Problematic

#66

Post by AcerbicZero »

Veen wrote: post #54
nsnick wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter whose business it is, the BBC still can't use communication between you and the BBC to interfere in a relationship you have with your employer that is illegal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortious_interference

An analogy I have in mind might help. Say I write book arguing that a marginalized group are in fact responsible for all the evils in society. A publisher chooses to publish that book. Someone decides to send my boss a copy of the book and I get fired. Do I have cause to sue the sender for tortious interference? I don't know what the status of private communications with the BBC would be in this regard, but if you're…

IANAL, but as I understand it, in that situation you would not have grounds to sue the sender.

However, if the publisher you sent the book to publishs it, then goes to your boss with the intent of getting you in trouble and/or fired, you might have something to sue over.

Re: BBC Says It May Contact Your Boss If You Post Comments It Finds Problematic

#67

Post by kazinator »

heisenbit wrote: post #8

BBC may want to rethink that. Either it is illegal and then the police and courts are the place or it is legal and then it is none of their business. What they are threatening is when they perceive their TOS are violated that they use personal information and interfere in other relationships. This exposes the BBC to liability e.g. if the person is fired they may ask the BBC to pay up. See also: https://en.wikipedia.o…

Tortious interference occurs only if the BBC carries out their threat.

But what is the legal status of the threat itself, not carried out?

If there are no legal ramifications from merely threatening to perpetrate tortious interference, then it seems like a useful troll deterrent tool that the BBC has a right to use on their own site.

Re: BBC Says It May Contact Your Boss If You Post Comments It Finds Problematic

#68

Post by dismantlethesun »

bostonpete wrote: post #13
blowski wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. We may block your account, and send an email to something like webmaster@yourdomain.com. If that happens to be your boss's email address, that's your problem.

The article says: "the BBC may use your personal information to inform relevant third parties such as your employer, school email/internet provider" If your comment was what they intended, they would have just referred to "e-mail provider".

They are clarifying that they'll talk to everyone in the chain, so you don't think that only Google will hear about it just because your office email is hosted with Gmail.

Re: BBC Says It May Contact Your Boss If You Post Comments It Finds Problematic

#69

Post by Karunamon »

Veen wrote: post #32
interfixus wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That magic spell again: Hate mail. All parties are invited to remember, one guy's considered opinion is another guy's hate speech. And then, ever so often, the wind changes, the tables are turned, those in the wrong are now in the right, and those in the right are now everybody's laughing stock.

The boundaries are fuzzy and subject to change. That doesn't mean there can be no standards of acceptability. Who defines the standards? In this case, the BBC.

That doesn't mean there can be no standards of acceptability.

Why do there need to be "standards of acceptability" at all? Seems to me the better world is one in which people don't interfere in other people's employment.

Re: BBC Says It May Contact Your Boss If You Post Comments It Finds Problematic

#70

Post by DanBC »

dboreham wrote: post #63
CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #6

Wow, that's confusing. I know that I know very little about U.K. law, so I would appreciate if someone there could answer: - Do employers typically have law-enforcement duties? - Is there a legal presumption of innocence---until proven otherwise---as there is in the U.S.? - Besides TV Licenses, is the BBC a judicial entity? I'm just trying to understand why the BBC may notify a non-law-enforcement agency about a poss…

Some aspects of UK and US culture are quite different and I suspect this is one. It has been a while since I lived there but I think the general idea is that it is silly to waste law enforcement resources on absolutely everything. Some things can be dealt with outside of the police and courts. Even the US has this with the RIAA/MPAA able to "tattle" on people who are file sharing directly to their ISP without a polic…

Also, a bit of what the BBC is talking about is either defamation (not something the police get involved with) or "misuse of company resources" - and BBC only wants to use this stick to prevent some of the vile trolling some of their employees have to put up with.
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