I used to think I lived in a democracy, but the last couple of years pulled back the curtain revealing the true nature of western democracy
Fun fact, democracy doesn’t mean free society.
People can vote for less freedom
Britain's police are restricting speech in worrying ways
21–30 of 192 posts
Re: Britain's police are restricting speech in worrying ways
#22Britain has a problem. But so does America. Quite a few people (non citizens so far), have been arrested for criticising the actions of the current Israeli government.
Often the problems with free-speech in another country are used as a distraction from whatever is happening at home. In all directions.
Re: Britain's police are restricting speech in worrying ways
#23Pretty sure the police aren't enacting the laws they are obligated to enforce, the government is the ones doing that.
Police have broad discretion over what they enforce and when. In America Castle Rock v. Gonzales affirmed this strongly (although it also had other questionable implications). I believe things are similar in Britain. Over here we've seen this with various jurisdictions decriminalizing marijuana and other drugs by simply not policing it.
It's different in Britain. If something is reported it has to be looked into. The article covers this. More reporting more investigations.
Re: Britain's police are restricting speech in worrying ways
#24> The public might well question why so much time is spent on this, while burglaries routinely go unsolved.
I'd offer yet another explanation: laziness.
For burglaries, you have to get out of your chair, go out into the community, interview witnesses, search for evidence, and maybe wander into dangerous areas to find and arrest potentially violent suspects.
For internet thought crimes, you can sit in the comfort of your own chair, getting paid to surf the internet, and declare enough posts "offensive" to look productive. When you do show up to arrest someone, they're highly unlikely to be violent. It's a lot easier and safer than investigating burglaries.
Re: Britain's police are restricting speech in worrying ways
#25It's strange that all four examples in the article are people with commonly objectionable right-wing views when the UK has sent arresting officers to people on the basis of online comments across the political spectrum in the last couple years. It isn't merely a partisan issue where a group that are easily written off as racists receive heavy-handed justice, the police have intermittently targeted every view away fro…
Examples like the raid on the quaker meeting are real and contemptible. I'm guessing it's because it's been weaponized against right-wingers for longer not because it's only been used against them. I hope people on the left, palestinian activists, etc. will help push back against these ridiculous tyrannical laws.
Re: Britain's police are restricting speech in worrying ways
#26Whatsapp messages?
It's pretty crucial to find out how these ended up with the police.
Did these people send Whatsapp messages to someone who didn't like the messages and this person then went to the police? In that case, it's back to the article and lack of definition within these laws.
If, however, the police got the whatsapp messages via some kind of mass-surveillance programme, then we have a big problem...
Re: Britain's police are restricting speech in worrying ways
#27[flagged]
Re: Britain's police are restricting speech in worrying ways
#28I used to think I lived in a democracy, but the last couple of years pulled back the curtain revealing the true nature of western democracy
Fun fact, democracy doesn’t mean free society. People can vote for less freedom
When you vote away foundational freedoms, you are no longer a democracy, at least not a liberal democracy.
Re: Britain's police are restricting speech in worrying ways
#29Britain has a problem. But so does America. Quite a few people (non citizens so far), have been arrested for criticising the actions of the current Israeli government.
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Re: Britain's police are restricting speech in worrying ways
#30Britain has a problem. But so does America. Quite a few people (non citizens so far), have been arrested for criticising the actions of the current Israeli government.
Strictly speaking most have been arrested on immigration-related charges but been targeted for prosecution due to criticizing israel. This is bad and a large step in the wrong direction but it's markedly less bad than the "hate speech" laws of Britain and many european countries.