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Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

bbc.com

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Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#32

Post by vacri »

ISL wrote: post #20

While this is a British concern, a reminder of what the United-States rebels enshrined into their new Constitution: Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

And yet Reporters Without Borders rates the US down at #43 when it comes to press freedom, marginally below the UK at #40.

https://rsf.org/en/united-states

An example of why it rates so low: https://rsf.org/en/news/us-rsf-concerned-second-wave-journal...

Also, while the First Amendment is good to have, it's not as absolute as its fans make out. There are plenty of restrictions on free speech in the US - libel/slander, obscenity, official and military secrets, insider trading, incitement, 'fighting words', intellectual property violations (a big one, thanks Disney), National Security Letters (yay 'warrant canaries')... and then there's things like 'free speech zones' (aka "time, place, and manner restrictions" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_in_the_Unite...). Some of those are good things to have, but nevertheless, not all of them are, and they're still 'government restrictions on speech'.

Again, the First Amendment is good to have, but people need to stop quoting it like it's a vaccine against loss of freedom of speech. The actual situation is a lot more complex.

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#33

Post by [deleted] »

liquidise wrote: post #28
negativity wrote: post #27

Holy shit. I'd leave the country and renounce citizenship over something like this. Reading words? Looking at pictures? Watching a video? Felony jail time? Really? This is policy that any sane person would resist.

While i have no intention of drawing moral equivalencies: in the US, watching child pornography videos can earn you felony jail time and permanent registration on a sex offenders list. Agree or disagree with the punishment, watching a video resulting in jail time is not without precedent, even stateside.

[deleted]

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#35

Post by KGIII »

wcarron wrote: post #4

Oh...shit. That is both stupefying and petrifying. More and more I feel that there is a new class war coming; and it is not rich vs poor so much as it is governments vs civilians. Really wondering whether this will be shot down or if other governments will follow suit down this road as quickly as possible. Instinct tells me the latter is more likely. I've not been on this Earth long, but where the fuck did all my fre…

I have watched ISIS recruitment videos. They have pretty catchy music and are well produced, actually.

I've watched GPY stuff, older Taliban stuff, all that.

I'm not even religious and it wasn't even scholarly. I was just curious about the debate and like to see things for myself.

I'm not sure I'm going to do well in a dystopian future.p

Anyhow, freedom is not something given once. It's something constantly defended. How you do that is up to you, I suppose.

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#36

Post by r00fus »

netsharc wrote: post #26
wcarron wrote: post #4

Oh...shit. That is both stupefying and petrifying. More and more I feel that there is a new class war coming; and it is not rich vs poor so much as it is governments vs civilians. Really wondering whether this will be shot down or if other governments will follow suit down this road as quickly as possible. Instinct tells me the latter is more likely. I've not been on this Earth long, but where the fuck did all my fre…

Government as a proxy for corporations. Even the "bastion of liberal democracy" the European Union (taking over from the USA) is run by lobbyists. Secret meetings to force TTIP, ministries of transports lobbying to keep lax emission testing rules so car manufacturers can cheat, the guy who was president of the tax haven of Luxembourg being president of the European Commission. Seems like we're returning to feudalism…

Jihad or Nationalism. The centrists (e.g. May/Macron/Merkel) fear and yet benefit from both - they can sacrifice freedoms to sell corporatist agendas.

Meanwhile populists across the spectrum are tarred and feathered as helping the extremists (or "not being strong enough against them").

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#40

Post by rjeli »

wcarron wrote: post #4

Oh...shit. That is both stupefying and petrifying. More and more I feel that there is a new class war coming; and it is not rich vs poor so much as it is governments vs civilians. Really wondering whether this will be shot down or if other governments will follow suit down this road as quickly as possible. Instinct tells me the latter is more likely. I've not been on this Earth long, but where the fuck did all my fre…

This is why Americans have the 2nd amendment
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