The same person was repeatedly sending these messages and has been warned about harrassment. The article you cited doesn't tell the whole story.
It is true that you can be prosecuted for abusive behaviour, but it's by no means a law that everybody supports, and so-called hate speech laws appear to be just as dumb - why should someone's choice of religion be protected from insult? I can understand it applying to things like race, age, sex, handicap and suchlike because these are biological facts that we can do nothing about and have not chosen. Religion, on the other hand, is not like that, it's a choice just as politics and shopping is. You should be as free to insult my religion, or absence of, as they are to insult my choice of political party or supermarket or poor sporting achievements, but if you bombard me with texts about what a crap diver I am, or follow me around shouting at me because I'm a member of the Loony Party, I can have you charged with harrassment. B > -----Original Message----- > From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of > Daniel J. Matyola > Sent: 31 July 2012 22:44 > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: Re: London Olympics > > In the US, "hate speech" is actionable or criminal only if it is based > on racial, religion or other classification, or if it is repeated > often enough to become harassment or cyber stalking. If I tweet that > a certain baseball player is a lazy inept bum, and an embarrassment to > his family, that would not be hate speech. If I said instead he was an > embarrassment to his race, that might be. > > I can't imagine the tweet described in the article being considered > criminal or actionable in the US. Bad taste and lack of class are not > yet violations of the law. > > Dan Matyola > http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola > > > On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 5:31 PM, John Francis <jo...@panix.com> wrote: > > > > As it says at the bottom of the article you quoted, tweeting messages > > considered menacing, offensive or indecent can lead to prosecution. > > > > Even in the USA, where "freedom of speech" is often taken to be > > synonymous with "freedom from any consequences of your speech" > > there is an exception for 'hate speech'. There are also statutes > > against cyber bullying in several jurisdictions. > > > > Nothing is absolute. Just where the line is drawn between what is, > and > > what is not, acceptable behaviour varies considerably between > countries. > > > > > > On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 05:15:46PM -0400, Daniel J. Matyola wrote: > >> I find this very strange. Is offensive tweeting really a crime in > >> Britain? While the tweeter appears to be a jerk, didn't Daley > >> increase the harm (if any) from the tweet by republishing it? > >> > >> > >> UK police arrest teen for tweets about diver > >> > >> ASSOCIATED PRESS July 31, 2012 5:11AM > >> Updated: July 31, 2012 8:16AM > >> > >> > >> LONDON ? A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of posting > >> malicious Twitter messages directed at British Olympic diver Tom > >> Daley, U.K. police said Tuesday. > >> > >> Daley?s father died of brain cancer a year ago and the 18-year-old > >> Olympian had hoped to win a medal ?for myself and my dad.? But he > >> finished fourth on Monday, out of medal contention, in the 10-meter > >> synchronized platform competition with teammate Pete Waterfield. > >> > >> Afterward, Daley tweeted a message saying ?After giving it my > >> all...you get idiots sending me this...? and retweeted a message > from > >> user @Rileyy69 which said: ?You let your dad down i hope you know > >> that.? > >> > >> Dorset Police said early Tuesday that a 17-year-old man was arrested > >> ?on suspicion of malicious communications? in relation to Twitter > >> threats made against Daley. > >> > >> Police said the man was detained at a guest house in the > southwestern > >> coastal town of Weymouth in the early hours of the morning, and is > >> currently helping police with their inquiries. > >> > >> In Britain, tweeting messages considered menacing, offensive or > >> indecent can lead to prosecution. > >> > >> Dan Matyola > >> http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola > >> > >> -- > >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > >> PDML@pdml.net > >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above > and follow the directions. > > > > -- > > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > PDML@pdml.net > > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above > and follow the directions. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
