Man Jailed for 3 months over Facebook Jokes

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Well, it's harsh, I'll give you that much.

But the very moment people consider Facebook to be anywhere near 'safe', they need to get spanked... and hard.

If you haven't understood the basic concept of Facebook around, say, September 2011, you deserve anything bad that comes your way because of it.

There are ways to handle things in 'private' on Facebook, but even that isn't anywhere near a secure line, just so you know.

If you don't like the concept of Big Brother Always Watching You but still use Facebook on a daily basis, there's something wrong with you. Just sayin'.

What really bothers me is that this clown gets jailtime for making jokes about a missing/most probably dead kid, while some other 'interest groups' can recruit all sorts of scum for dirty work 24/7 without any trouble whatsoever. Not sure what to make of this, really. All I can say is this:

I do not like it. Full stop.

 

[Kushan101]

Appalled does not even begin to describe how I feel about it - sure what he said may have been distasteful, but that doesn't give ANYONE the right to lock him up. If you don't like what somebody has said, especially on facebook, you have the freedom to ignore it. It isn't complicated.
It fascinates me that he was arrested when there was a crowd outside his house baying for blood. Um, where where the legal procedings against the people conspiring to commit murder?

I've said that my country has been sliding furthur and furthur away from democracy for years now. Now they've at least fucking well admitted it.

 

[Dr Pussymagnet]

Maybe I'm just one of those Constitution-waving Amurkins (the real kind, not the ultra-conservative kind), but do you guys in the UK not have some kind of protection of free speech? I don't care which country you're from, it's a gross violation of freedom and ethics to send someone to prison over a joke (no matter how tasteless).

Though maybe it's not so bad, since the UK apparently has so little crime that the police don't have anything better to do than arrest you for tasteless humor. Then again, I suppose that's true here in the US as well - only they arrest you for smoking the wrong plant instead of telling jokes. And it's the same in some middle-eastern countries, only they arrest you for worshiping the wrong god. Gosh, what a crime-free world we must live in!

I know freedom of speech is an idea commonly associated with developed, first-world countries, but the UK doesn't actually allow it on the same level as the US. I mean, it's there and all, but it doesn't really protect threatening, insulting, or abusive speech.

 

[blazearmoru]

I think he was jailed so that people with a need for blood could satisfy their need for revenge without resulting in a dead person. Actions have consequences. Either run away (in this case, be jailed for a little bit) or face the wrath of the results of your own actions. Everything happens for a reason, but most often the reason is human stupidity.

 

[saoirse13]

Haha and there was me thinking that jails where there for rapists and murderers, well i guess you could say he murdered a few jokes but come on. Seriously political correctness has went too far, losing your freedom of speech. Lets face it, this really is just another way to scare a population and control it. The law is a bloody joke if thats jail worthy.

 

[bojackx]

Coincidently, there has just been a news report about someone going to court and may be facing jail time for saying "All soldiers should die and go to hell" a couple of days after 6 soldiers were killed overseas. I can't help but feel punishment for this kind of stuff is going to happen a lot more often.

I think a fine would have done the trick, jail time is ridiculously overkill. As long as it's not directed at anyone and isn't aimed to hurt people I don't see how it can be seen as much of a crime. Surely it comes under free speech or something?

 

[Pinkamena]

No, that's NOT ok. You shouldn't be afraid of going to prison for saying jokes!

 

[deathzero021]

I don't care how horrible a joke is, or even a real statement is, you should NEVER get sentenced to prison for SAYING SOMETHING. the only exception maybe death-threats.

Locking people up for saying something the police don't like? that's tyranny, oppression. no matter what, we should defend Freedom of Speech no matter how vile the speech may get. it's a f***ing Facebook post! This $hit is ridiculous.

this "example" they're setting is nothing more than "don't say things we don't like or I can throw you into prison with other criminals, you know the good old folk who rape and kill." This is ruling with FEAR.

 

[sarahvait]

haha the UK is going full retard, not surprised.

Chorley magistrates heard members of the public were so upset about his posts they reported them to the police.

About 50 people went to his home. He was arrested at a separate address.

And apparently in the UK you need 50 folk to arrest someone who makes a bad joke.

Actually, the article says that the fifty who came to his house weren't with the police but the upset members of the public.

"Woods, who is unemployed, was arrested for his own safety on Saturday night and remanded in custody ahead of his appearance in court."

He was arrested because a frigging mob came to his house, pissed off enough that the police thought they would hurt him. The sentence he got is for the jokes though.

 

[AusGamer44]

making comments that will cause public disorder will get your ass arested in the UK as shown by this case. he is now reaping the rewards of his actions

Mother of God,that Boyle joke is awful.I don't wince often at dark humour,but damn.I just hope her parents don't see it.
And I'd have to see all the guys' posts before I made a judgement.Freedom of speech shouldn't be abused,nor should it protect you from making hate speech,public threats or yelling 'fire' in a crowded theatre.Perhaps they invoked the law to save his ass so that in 3 months all the outrage blows over.But you'd have to have a VERY good reason like the ones I cited to do this.

 

[direkiller]

So a guy has been sentenced to 3 months in prison for posting tasteless jokes on his facebook.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-19869710

What do you guys think of this?

My own opinion is that its quite frieghtning and pretty disgraceful that posting a tastless joke can warrant a prison sentence, even if it is pretty disgusting.
Arent there better things to be spending funds on rather than prosecuting people for bad humor. I mean it was on his own private page, not directed at the family or people involved in the case itself....

It's not prosecuting people for bad humour, it's prosecution people for breaking the law, specifically the 2003 Communication Act.

Saying that he was prosecuted for bad humour is like saying that someone who was arrested for doing 150mph on the motorway was arrested for having a bit of fun with their own private vehicle.

It's also worth noting that he was taken into protective custody, arrested for his own safety, because what he posted was so offensive that an angry group of 50 people had descended on his house. If the police had ignored his posts and let him face the consequences of his bad humour, then a lot more funds would have been spent in combating and clearing up after the riot he caused, not to mention the pursuit and prosecution of every member of the mob he incited.

Bad humour and tasteless jokes on their own aren't against the law, but when you use a communications network to broadcast that offensive material to everyone with an internet connection, you're breaking long established laws and inciting public order offences.

(you being the Prophet Mohammad in the context)
"I love many things about you and hate others, and there are many things about you I don't understand."
"I won't bow in front of you, I won't kiss your hand. Instead, I will shake it as an equal"
"No Saudi women will go to hell, because it's impossible to go there twice."

the only diffidence is these tweets got there writer a life sentence and the mob was a a few order of magnitudes bigger


Just because something is offensive dose not mean you should jail someone. And just because there was a mob dose not make it right to jail one man.

UK congrats your in the same boat as Saudi Arabia.

 

[sinsfire]

I know nothing about the speach laws in the UK, but something tells me that if this had been less topical he might not have been in such trouble.

Additionally it seems that hte complaints came from the local townsfolk. Small towns have their own rules regarding decorum and it seems like this is just a perfect storm of tragic events and some idiot trying to have a lark. I'm a big proponent of th efact that anything can be funny or comedic if that is the intention. But that doesn't seem to be this guys intention. The article indicates that he was trying to make it seem like his account had been hacked, this is a pretty stupid idea to begin with, but that also doesn't make his sense of humor seem funny. It makes him seem mean.

Couple that with a town that is distressed over what seems like a grusom and horrific crime and I think you run into trouble. Again I have no knowledge of UK politics or freedoms, but I get the feeling this wouldn't have been as big a deal in London or Manchester as it was in Lancashire.

 

[bjj hero]

No, that's NOT ok. You shouldn't be afraid of going to prison for saying jokes!

Went to prison for teh lulz. Awesome.

In all fairness, if you are going to contact the police because your mouth has been writing cheques that your ass can't cash you have whatever legal penalty is coning along with that. Think of the money wasted protecting this guy, who happens to be unemployed with nothing better to do than troll a family whos 5 year old is missing presumed dead. So hes not even paying into the police that had to come out and rescue him.

He went to prison for breaking the laws covered by the 2003 communication act. For the consequences of his actions (effectively tax payers paid for his rescue. Im glad my house wasn't being burgled while the police were busy scraping up this asshat) I feel he had it coming.

 

[Slayer_2]

No matter how shitty the person may be, and how tasteless their humor, I don't think imprisoning them is really a good idea. This is a very slippery slope.

 

[GTwander]

I am not amused.

I feel like going on a rant about this - but that is exactly what they want, and I don't feel like being extradited for offending some uptight limey bastad... Oops.

*flees to Mexico*

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I believe the joke he was arrested for was 'whats the difference between mark ( the father) and santa? Mark comes in April (the kid)
As utterly disgusting as this is, I cant see how it can justify a court sentence.

...I laughed.

I can't comment on him being arrested because I don't know his neck of the woods "free speech" laws, but if he got arrested in America over it I'd be pissed. There is nothing remotely threatening about that joke. It's slanderous, but even thats a stretch because it's clearly a joke.

 

[dumbseizure]

Uhh.....maybe I am missing something, maybe I fell into a coma and I have been out for a while, but when did we start handing out sentences, not on the severity of the crime, but based on the amount of outrage from the public?

Also, he is also charged with child abduction? What the hell is that about?

No, like, genuinely, there is no mention of child abduction in that article except for the two words, "child abduction".

 

[Iori Branford]

Putting aside whether freedom or security is better... If UK law claims to side with security, then what's the reasoning for apparently letting off the 50-strong mob? The ones who made a real and direct threat to life and limb over a few nasty words that the page owner can take down and then everyone can forget about?