What constitutes Free Speech ?
Free Speech. the mantra of the masses. But what are the boundries ?
Am i not allowed to make sick jokes. After all , humour is subjective. Words like abhorrent and offensive are not the same for you and I.
What say you ?
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A teenager who posted explicit comments and jokes about April Jones on his Facebook page has been jailed for 12 weeks.
Matthew Woods, 19, made comments about April and Madeleine McCann, the three-year-old who went missing during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.
Woods was arrested for his own safety after about 50 people descended on his home. He pleaded guilty at Chorley magistrates court to sending by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive. The chairman of the bench, Bill Hudson, said Woods's comments were so "abhorrent" he deserved the longest sentence the court could hand down.
Hudson added: "The reason for the sentence is the seriousness of the offence, the public outrage that has been caused and we felt there was no other sentence this court could have passed which conveys to you the abhorrence that many in society feel this crime should receive."
The court was told Woods's Facebook page was available to a large number of people.
Among Woods's comments were: "Who in their right mind would abduct a ginger kid?" In another he said: "I woke up this morning in the back of a transit van with two beautiful little girls, I found April in a hopeless place."
Woods's sentence comes as the CPS reviews how to treat social media and electronic communication in the light of several cases where substantial sentences have been handed down after people have posted offensive remarks on Twitter and Facebook or sent them directly via email.
Source: Guardian
this link is about a then 11-year old girl who killed her classmate just because she was offended by posts against her on the internet. she's turning 20 next month and will be released next year.
http://nevada.natural20.net/nevada.html
stumbled upon this when i was looking for the dvd of the japanese movie 'battle royale' (where i think the hunger games was ripped off from) online several years ago. it was out of stock in amazon for a long time and further search showed this incident as the probable reason why the dvd was pulled out and the sequel's release date was delayed as well.
what's more interesting is the netizens' fascination about the event. fan clubs were formed and fan fiction were written about her in many online communities. they found her real name and other information about her that were withheld from traditional media because of laws that existed to protect minors. i don't think they were really supportive of her actions but this incident just became popular on the web.
no point being made here. i just remembered
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b48_1305790944
Mr Desert, no one should be punished that is the point, whether it is blasphemy or sick jokes. No one has the moral authority to decide what is offensive or not.
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Remember you have the right to be offended in this life, but not the right to never be offended.
If you do not want to be offended, do not have a computer, a TV, read the newspaper or talk to any other person. Live in a cave on your own and you'll be fine.
I am shocked at the approach people have towards free speech.
When some one makes an offensive comment against a missing child, he is punished because it is "offensive" and "public outrage that has been caused ".
At the same instance when some one mocks or makes offensive materials against Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him); it has offended more than 1.6 billion muslims around the world and there is "public outrage" all around the world, but still no one is punished and they say that it is freedom of speech !!
Very sickening and atrocious to say the least. And goes to show how when a person get's into a habit of constantly joking even at the expense of others, and finding humor in even things that are painful, sacred, or in other ways considered serious for another, then they just don't know where to draw the line, do they?Forms of Voyeurism and sadism, yet for those doing it, it's just a laugh, y'know, not that they meant any harm...humbug!
That said to give the guy jail time for this alone certainly goes against the law permitting free speech. And should they jail him, will they then jail all those individuals who go about causing mischief and bad feelings among people by mocking their beliefs, tragedies, etc? Where do they draw the line? How will they measure the degree of offence caused? Who will play moral police and decide this is ok to mock but not this?
I'm not sure what they're thinking Brit. Yes it was awful of him to make the jokes. The guy is obviously a twat. But 12 weeks in jail? Overcompensating for something are they?
Those Poms are crazy. Jail time for that, when there are terrorists they could be arresting.
Well said. Next they'll be prosecuting me for making Canadian and french jokes ..
I believe that in this case the government is trying make brownie points by playing to public sentiments..
Personally I don't think their should be limits to free speech. And 12 weeks for those jokes? Really? When did the UK become a facist state?
But Madeleine jokes have been circulating for 5 years now, never saw anyone getting so worked up over them before.
This is not a case of cyber bullying.
Here , the accused made 'sick' jokes about two little girls who went missing and are presumed murdered.
Is it because of the age of these girls that we are finding this abhorrent ?
Are we not becoming over sensitive ?
What is the difference between this and making jokes about Bill Clinton and Monica.
They are all sick and perverse.
Disgusting comments but jail? Hell no.