Yesterday in Wales a 24 year old man, Gavin Brent, was fined by magistrates for the content of a blog post in which he subjected a police officer to what was considered a 'menacing' attack.
Brent had been charged with nineteen offences of theft and vented his apparently extreme displeasure by making the post, the content of which attacked the officer and his new baby. The charge for the post was bought under the Telecommunications act.
I may very well be wrong here but this is the first time to my [limited] knowledge a blogger has been convicted in the U.K for the content of a blog post and it brings up once again, that old chestnut, freedom of speech. Should we be free to post anything we wish or should we be held responsible under law for our written opinion?
Again my knowledge is limited but I assume that should one publish a post for instance, likely to incite racial hatred or to promote terrorism, charges could be bought against the owner and in principle at least, journalists have guidelines to which they have to adhere, hard though it is to tell sometimes should you subject yourself to our delightful daily red top publications!
I can never quite formulate an absolute opinion on this question though I err on the side of believing we should be held responsible, under law if the case is suitably extreme, for the content of any post we put 'out there'. In the case of Mr Brent's post however, whilst undoubtedly it was very offensive, it appears to be merely the silly rantings of a stupid individual annoyed at being caught and perhaps would have been better treated with the contempt it deserved!
Your opinion?
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
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5 Comments:
humm, not sure how I would think about this one.. But maybe people should consider what they write, But then who am I? LOL.. Hey Gemmak, as you can see, I am making my rounds again, LOL.. check out my blog, I left my mew myspace on it where I am most of the time now, LOL.. Hugs Jade
The police are entitled to the same protection as we would wish were there to be crude libels about our partners and kids. Maybe the officer could ignore it as the same sort of abuse they get on sink estates - but why should his wife have to accept it? Who knows that Brent would not continue in the same vein? It was not the blogging he was done for but the threat and annoyance arising from the way he phrased his views. Can anyone see any difference had he sat down a written a letter and sent that through the mail? Or telephoned his garbage or said the same face to face in the street/
Sod him - next case!
anonymouse jw
I personally feel it's different if you write things like this down for your own viewing pleasure, or if you publish it for the world to see.
I can see letting off steam. I can't see the post, though, and maybe we WOULD be offended by it.
I think if people make theats (his post was said to be menacing), then they should be held accountable for what they say or write. But that's just my opinion.
Free speech, yes, but not without consequences sometimes. Apparently.
Just another issue where the 'Police' in the UK are slightly over zealous.
To Police well not only do you need to fight crime but you need the support of the community. Being seemed to over react when criticised doesn't instil confidence and trust.
We're all entitled to our opinions. I think it's wrong to threaten someone, however. I used to write whatever I wanted on my blog, but I have readers now who are uninvited. And I try to censor myself against possible recriminations from supervisors at work. You never know what to expect from The Blackhearted Bastard Railway of Canada. So I have to be careful what I say about the motherf ... Yes. I have to be careful.
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