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Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

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Re: Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

#151

I feel like I must have been corrupted by the internet or something if the tweet in question is considered "grossly offensive". It certainly isn't nice , but 18 months supervision and 150 hours of community service? I don't even know how to put my bafflement into words here.

This is exactly why "hate speech" laws are so dangerous. It gives carte blanche to the government to go after anyone who says anything any one person (or the government itself) might find offensive.

Re: Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

#152
post #126

Crickets from the usual crowd who would be crying "cancel culture!" on all TV and radio for weeks and calling for heads to roll had the tweet been about something other than a cause they support (military worship). Governments and companies continue to get more and more empowered to do this stuff because people always show that it has never really been about freedom but rather pushing their own views.

What on earth would make you say this? There are plenty of people upset over this including myself and others that believe in free speech. This is unfortunately in the UK which doesn’t have the same protections as the US. This person would not have been found guilty in the US but the UK doesn’t have the same level of freedoms.

Re: Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

#153
post #126

Crickets from the usual crowd who would be crying "cancel culture!" on all TV and radio for weeks and calling for heads to roll had the tweet been about something other than a cause they support (military worship). Governments and companies continue to get more and more empowered to do this stuff because people always show that it has never really been about freedom but rather pushing their own views.

Disc: american commenting on uk legal matters.

> people always show that it has never really been about freedom (emphasis mine)

Which people? They always act this way? It was never about freedom, for anyone? Who could possibly say this authoritatively?

I think the last ~5 years has put a bright light onto freedom of speech. It is a complicated topic with some surprisingly nuanced positions. Does it include the ability to say what you want wherever you want? Or without consequence? There are multiple vectors to it.

I consider myself a free speech advocate. But i have no military fetishism that you claim is one of the root causes for free speech support (a weird combo). I support free speech because... i think people speaking their mind freely is a net positive. That appears to be increasingly controversial these days. That's fine, more room for discussion.

Re: Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

#154
post #142
post #126

Crickets from the usual crowd who would be crying "cancel culture!" on all TV and radio for weeks and calling for heads to roll had the tweet been about something other than a cause they support (military worship). Governments and companies continue to get more and more empowered to do this stuff because people always show that it has never really been about freedom but rather pushing their own views.

I think you may be looking for an issue where there is none on this one. While "the usual crowd" absolutely rightly believes in canceling the cancelers as pushback for anti-freedom policies like the cancel culture embraced by the left and progressives, I just Googled the guy's name and there's barely any news articles on it at all aside from a few tabloid-tech style sites like this one, starting a day or two ago. I'd…

> While "the usual crowd" absolutely rightly believes in canceling the cancelers as pushback for anti-freedom policies like the cancel culture embraced by the left and progressives

Unironically canceling the cancelers to pushback against cancel culture? Maybe the horseshoe theory has some merit after all.

Re: Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

#155
Presumably, the bobbies of the UK are hot on the trail of the people who Tweeted https://twitter.com/dataracer117/status/1272737061703790592 and will get those community services sentences on the schedule.

Death threats, after all, are worse than being glad someone is dead.

Re: Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

#156
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the UK brought in laws around lockdowns and handling covid people here were complaining that it was a slippery slope and the government would never give up those restrictions yet they did exactly that and those laws are no longer in play. In that case the slippery slope argument was a fallacy.

We've established - quite clearly - that in an emergency the government can lock everything down for 2 years and that lip service to liberty or human rights means nothing. Emergencies happen every 2-3 years. Why won't we see similar anti-liberty measures again in the next 20 years? 'We' 'know' it 'works'. It isn't even clear that we'll be spared another pandemic through that timeframe, the world is quite small these…

I know you're lying. you know you're lying. you know I know you're lying.

Yet we continue as if nothing is off.

This is society, where politeness is codified in law.

Re: Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

#157
Another British case from this week: a man got 3 months in jail for being drunk on a plane. The judge acknowledged he wasn't violent or aggressive or even rude to anyone, but he did vomit: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/drunk-p...

Re: Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

#158
post #126

Crickets from the usual crowd who would be crying "cancel culture!" on all TV and radio for weeks and calling for heads to roll had the tweet been about something other than a cause they support (military worship). Governments and companies continue to get more and more empowered to do this stuff because people always show that it has never really been about freedom but rather pushing their own views.

I don't know about "crickets". This thread is full of people who think this is a bad move.

Personally, I'm of two minds about it: this isn't a "cancel culture" situation, because evidently he did break a law. He's not being shunned by society, he's just getting arrested for a crime — however ridiculous the crime may be.

The main argument against this sentence is that other people do the same thing all the time and don't get punished for it. That's not a strong defense. The other argument is that the law itself is inappropriately applied, which it probably is. But this guy wasn't engaged in civil disobedience, he was a drunken idiot who thought he could shoot his mouth off with impunity, and to his surprise he got caught in the system. He should appeal, and the law should be clarified, changed, or struck down, because it's being selectively applied and that's a bit scary. But, this isn't shocking, and the guy isn't a sympathetic hero.

Re: Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

#159
post #126

Crickets from the usual crowd who would be crying "cancel culture!" on all TV and radio for weeks and calling for heads to roll had the tweet been about something other than a cause they support (military worship). Governments and companies continue to get more and more empowered to do this stuff because people always show that it has never really been about freedom but rather pushing their own views.

I think this comment leaves a bad taste. It is dissing at partisanry where there isn't any. I personally know many republicans and democrats who have a staunch sense of free of speech. They all would be crying in unison.

The problem with your view is 1) It is unsubstantiated - where do you see "crickets from the usual crowd"? 2) It is exaggerated and playing into partisan tribalism of people. 3) Creates more division than helps, does not address anything really except teach toxicity.

You're flaming the fumes.

Re: Twitter user sentenced to 150 hours of community service in UK

#160
post #126

Crickets from the usual crowd who would be crying "cancel culture!" on all TV and radio for weeks and calling for heads to roll had the tweet been about something other than a cause they support (military worship). Governments and companies continue to get more and more empowered to do this stuff because people always show that it has never really been about freedom but rather pushing their own views.

Disc: american commenting on uk legal matters. > people always show that it has never really been about freedom (emphasis mine) Which people? They always act this way? It was never about freedom, for anyone? Who could possibly say this authoritatively? I think the last ~5 years has put a bright light onto freedom of speech. It is a complicated topic with some surprisingly nuanced positions. Does it include the abilit…

The largest media outlets that beat the freedom of speech drum (fox, other right wing sites) never do so in response to people whose speech they don't like being silenced.
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