Live data from Hacker News

Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison for tweeting

theverge.com

71–80 of 153 posts

Re: Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison for tweeting

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nazi dog was in Scotland, this is in England. they are different legal jurisdictions. Edit: England, not Britain.

Solid pedantry attempt, but missed the mark. Scotland is a part of Britain. Scotland is not part of England nor Wales, but Scotland, England, and Wales are all part of (Great) Britain.

Appreciate the gotcha, nearly as fun to post as pedantry. I only made the same mistake OP did, however.

The actual point still stands. If you're going to take a dig at a legal system, country, or culture, don't try to back up your point with an example from a different one.

Scotland is not England legally or culturally, and the scots will be the first to make that point clear.

Re: Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison for tweeting

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nazi dog was in Scotland, this is in England. they are different legal jurisdictions. Edit: England, not Britain.

Solid pedantry attempt, but missed the mark. Scotland is a part of Britain. Scotland is not part of England nor Wales, but Scotland, England, and Wales are all part of (Great) Britain.

Ah, poor Wales. You'd have to murder your wife to sit on the throne there.

Re: Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison for tweeting

#73
post #14

I'm reminded of how under in the UK a person was made to do community service after making a tweet.[1] Obviously not as steep of a sentencing, but a prosecution nonetheless. I only point that out because reading these headlines now doesn't make me feel protective of liberal democracy, it only makes me despair of a global trend. 1. https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/31/23004339/uk-twitter-user-...

A man was given a suspended jail sentence in the UK for making a joke video about Grenfell. To (on the whole) great and uncritical applause from the media and general public.

Article for those who might be interest: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/apr/20/man-admits-p....

A 10 week jail sentence for a racist video making fun of a terrible tragedy doesn't bother me as much as locking up political opponents

Re: Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison for tweeting

#74
post #14

I'm reminded of how under in the UK a person was made to do community service after making a tweet.[1] Obviously not as steep of a sentencing, but a prosecution nonetheless. I only point that out because reading these headlines now doesn't make me feel protective of liberal democracy, it only makes me despair of a global trend. 1. https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/31/23004339/uk-twitter-user-...

In Croatia, people have been fined for writing ACAB (on Twitter or Facebook), as well as "1312". One journalist has been arrested for publishing satirical song deemed to "insult the nation". Many judges favorite pastime is extorting money from newspapers and journalists through the lawsuits on account of causing them "mental distress" with their articles. And police will readily punch the phone out of your hands if y…

Literally a 30+ year jail sentence vs fines. Like don't get me wrong, that seems bad, but not really on the same level

Re: Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison for tweeting

#75
post #14

I'm reminded of how under in the UK a person was made to do community service after making a tweet.[1] Obviously not as steep of a sentencing, but a prosecution nonetheless. I only point that out because reading these headlines now doesn't make me feel protective of liberal democracy, it only makes me despair of a global trend. 1. https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/31/23004339/uk-twitter-user-...

“democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried”

Re: Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison for tweeting

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solid pedantry attempt, but missed the mark. Scotland is a part of Britain. Scotland is not part of England nor Wales, but Scotland, England, and Wales are all part of (Great) Britain.

Appreciate the gotcha, nearly as fun to post as pedantry. I only made the same mistake OP did, however. The actual point still stands. If you're going to take a dig at a legal system, country, or culture, don't try to back up your point with an example from a different one. Scotland is not England legally or culturally, and the scots will be the first to make that point clear.

Please explain how the difference in these legal systems is worth the pedantry.

Re: Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison for tweeting

#78
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Every country on earth has diplomatic relations with Saudia Arabia except Belize, the Holy See, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Nepal, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Taiwan, Western Sahara, and a few Pacific micronations. Obviously the House of Saud is evil, but it's largely impossible to have a modern society without their oil.

"It's largely impossible to have a modern society without their oil."

Not true. They produce less oil than the US and Russia and were only responsible for 12% of global oil production in 2021.

Re: Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison for tweeting

#79
post #69
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This speaks to the myth of decentralized . Because the Internet was hailed as a great invention, with its decentralization bringing us to a sort of knowledge sharing and connectedness eutopia. But now, the Internet and associated technologies are the single greatest medium of centralized control ever. I always point to Adam Curtis' All Watched Over by Machines of Ever Loving Grace documentary.

> But now, the Internet and associated technologies are the single greatest medium of centralized control ever. I strongly disagree with this assessment. The internet currently facilitates enormous amounts of black market trading in virtually every country in the world. The internet facilitates the only information exchange that can provide privacy guarantees between parties, again in virtually any part of the world.…

I couldn’t disagree more. The fact that the internet enables certain illicit decentralized activities doesn’t mean that it’s not a net tool towards the benefit / potential benefit of a centralized authority.

I was recently confused when a friend asked me how my vacation was, which was last minute and completely absent from my social media. I told nobody and shared nothing about this trip. Yet the friend I was vacationing with had posted a Story of us out on Snap/Insta, which I didn’t see, thus hundreds of people knew about my vacation with my friend. The internet centralized information through many channels, not only state authority but also cultural patterns and habits that become the new norm.

Re: Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison for tweeting

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans fight for ideals all the time. Individual Americans do, and this includes individuals in government. It is true to say that much that is represented as being about ideals is really something else in disguise. And there is rampant corruption and so forth. But it takes cynicism too far to say that ideals never factor in. There are many principled people with ideals having impact in the world every day, and th…

I believe the thread was about the behaviour of governments, not individuals. Principled and idealistic individuals exist everywhere, including Saudi Arabia as the article shows.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN