@DogMan I live in the UK and they do not jail people for "mean tweets". They jail people for tweets that incite hate crimes and violence against migrants.
@wildland That's arguable. But in one famous case, last year, the court acted under the influence of a demand for vengeance from the Prime Minister - and that's disgraceful.
That's just riddled with distortions and strawman fallacies.
UK law doesn’t jail people for “mean tweets”—it targets speech that incites hatred or violence, not subjective hurt feelings. You claim it's all subjective and that “Muslims believe criticism of Muhammad is a hate crime,” but that’s BS. Criticizing Islam or Muhammad, or any religion come to that is legal in the UK. What’s not legal is using that criticism to incite hatred or violence against Muslims (for example). That distinction matters.
You also misrepresent “words are violence” as a legal standard. It’s not. You’re collapsing nuance into a bad-faith narrative to defend your harmful rhetoric under the guise of free speech.
And by the way, the only person who has been jailed for a "mean tweet" was 19-year-old Justin Lee Price, who tweeted racist abuse at Marcus Rashford after the Euro 2020 final.
Except it wasn't a "mean tweet" - it was part of a racially aggravated public order offence.
@wildland It came after the attack on children in Southport and the subsequent riots. Starmer promised condign punishment for the rioters. None of his business, of course, but as he is a Labour Prime Minister and the rioters were allegedly "far right" the courts did as they were told. A woman who sent an unwise tweet, and who even more unwisely pleaded guilty, got something like 18 months. I've forgotten her name, but she has had a lot of publicity.
