Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here in Airstrip One, cartoons of children may be illegal. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fan-japanese-anime-make...
I've spoken about this many times, and I'll say it again - it's a horrible violation of freedom of speech and expression to not be allowed to possess or create certain drawings. There is no law that sickens me more than the one that criminalises drawings. It angers me far more than even modern copyright law. And the worst part is that nobody seems to care about it, even those who are libertarians in the UK who I've m…
I just wanted to say that I agree 100%. The UK's laws on obscenity and freedom of speech in general are a terrifying mess.
You can be arrested and convicted for as little as wearing a t-shirt with an offensive slogan. [0]
How do we define offensive? Well, nobody really knows. It basically depends on the magistrate or jury you find yourself in front of.
When I discuss cases like this with people, they often say something along the lines of "but how can you defend this person... what they said was racist/homophobic/obscene/insulting to the dead etc". How many times will I have to explain, I'm not defending the person or their opinions, I'm defending the principle of freedom of speech.
Nobody is willing to stand up for a cartoonist who draws creepy pictures, or a football fan with a terrible sense of humour. But really we should all be protesting in the streets over this stuff.
How long before your t-shirt is deemed offensive? Or something you wrote? Or something you drew?
Just like with the cartoons, there is zero evidence of harm caused. Just innocent people persecuted with no justification.
[0] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-3674...