L.A. Liberty

British teenager arrested for "malicious" tweets →

Kid tells failed olympic swimmer through twitter: “You let your dad down i hope you know that.” Olympic swimmer’s dad, who was his inspiration, died of cancer last year.

So apparently being a jerk online is punishable by up to six months in prison or a £5,000 fine if convicted.

Under the terms of [the Malicious Communications Act 1988], it is an offence to send messages to another person which are “indecent or grossly offensive”, threatening or false.

Any indecent or grossly offensive message could be considered an offence if it causes distress or anxiety to the recipient, or “any other person to whom he intends that it or its contents or nature should be communicated”.

UK Tumblrs, beware.

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Follow-up: It looks like this guy also threatened violence, which changes things a bit. This information was not available or noted in any of the pieces I read when I posted this story. Still, no new law is necessary for this. A legitimate threat of aggression is a threat no matter the medium. The Malicious Communications Act merely expands the scope of laws against speech. Charging this person with “malicious communication” is unnecessary as there are already laws against threatening with violence. If he legitimately threatened violence and it was reasonable to believe he would follow through, then it doesn’t matter if he did so with his voice on a street corner, with a written message tied to a brick, or on the internet. So the two related questions we must ask are: (1) if people were genuinely threatened and fearful for their safety, why is he only being charged with the lesser offense of “malicious communication”? (2) if people did not think he was a credible threat, why was he arrested at all?

Notes:

1. tout-ce-qui-roule likes this
2. mechy-z likes this
3. maxlibertarios reblogged this from kashf4i and added:

   Regardless of our own emotion, he still has the right. I’m not confining what he said, just defending his right to say...

4. utilitymaximiser likes this
5. kashf4i reblogged this from maxlibertarios and added:

   Saying something shitty just because you can, then hiding behind freedom of speech is cowardly. If someone said...

6. thegreekweegee reblogged this from maxlibertarios
7. thegreekweegee likes this
8. robbieboywonder reblogged this from diarrefpuckhookyplay-em-offs and added:

   He also said this … So thank god he was arrested. He threatened to kill him. Please be informed before you jump the...

9. garcondejambon reblogged this from feeols and added:

   It was only after the kid threatened to drown Tom Daley in a swimming pool that police found and arrested the kid. so...

10. perfectclassic reblogged this from laliberty
11. jswift3000 reblogged this from antigovernmentextremist and added:

    Kid tells failed olympic swimmer through twitter: “You let your dad down i hope you know that.” Olympic swimmer’s dad,...

12. tigertwo1515 reblogged this from beatyourselfup
13. inutilium likes this
14. feeols reblogged this from diarrefpuckhookyplay-em-offs and added:

    This is the 17 year-old kid here in this video that is just painful to watch So yeah, he is a massive dick anyway.

15. tommywiseau reblogged this from antigovernmentextremist
16. tylermittan likes this
17. beatyourselfup reblogged this from classical-liberal
18. blistexfan likes this
19. anarchei likes this
20. datalorez reblogged this from laliberty and added:

    just frightening. They are arresting someone...something they said that wasn’t

21. thezombiebones reblogged this from corinthiangirlfriend and added:

    ^^^^

22. filminmotion likes this
23. frivolouspookster likes this
24. kamikazenipple reblogged this from diarrefpuckhookyplay-em-offs
25. albinowonderland reblogged this from corinthiangirlfriend and added:

    Oh my god I was actually keeping track of this guy yesterday. It went from being hateful to “apologetic” back to hateful...

26. iamcamdon likes this
27. starfoxxe reblogged this from previouslyswaggaraptor
28. caleyhustle likes this
29. unconverted likes this
30. nonreductivesoul likes this
31. ice-grave likes this
32. fishfacedterror reblogged this from caligulasvvioletprince
33. caligulasvvioletprince reblogged this from previouslyswaggaraptor
34. sentriesaries reblogged this from waywardviagrabond
35. sentriesaries likes this
36. appropinquabamus reblogged this from corinthiangirlfriend
37. corinthiangirlfriend reblogged this from graceinmyheart and added:

    The kid was being a jerk online. Big fucking deal. I understand people sending him hateful messages, but to be arrested...

38. idontmakemonkeys likes this
39. waywardviagrabond reblogged this from lyrakish
40. lllilacfumes likes this
41. jaisons reblogged this from laliberty and added:

    The reach of government grows and grows. How long before we are all subject to citations and arrest?

42. neverhadmuchtosay reblogged this from bamfandblueberry
43. seymourbuhts reblogged this from diarrefpuckhookyplay-em-offs
44. jaisons likes this
45. bamfandblueberry reblogged this from lyrakish and added:

    Being a jerk IS a crime. Educate yourself.

46. seymourbuhts likes this
47. lyrakish reblogged this from previouslyswaggaraptor and added:

    Good. Malicious little bastard. That’s what you get for being a cunt.

48. kuryree reblogged this from thymosophos
49. laliberty likes this
50. threadsofamber reblogged this from thymosophos
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