UK Teen Arrested Over Racist Tweet

[glo]

If you read the actual tweet, he simply called him a racial slur, didn't threaten anyone whatsoever.

Slippery slope for sure.

[caervek]

Fully agree with this, hate crimes should not be protected via freedom of speech.

Freedom to walk down the street doesn't allow you to punch every black person you see either.

[Revi]

Fully agree with this, hate crimes should not be protected via freedom of speech.

Freedom to walk down the street doesn't allow you to punch every black person you see either.

I don't think we want to make rude comments fall under "hate crime".

[Acelius]

I'm not quite sure where I stand on this one and wanted to hear the opinions of some people either in the UK or just other people in general, since for some reason none of the UK news sites were "accepting comments on this subject", which I found very odd.

But anyway, it raises the age-old question over where the lines of protected speech should begin and end. I personally think that any speech that threatens violence in a criminal fashion should be dealt with, but that's not really what the tweet were allegedly about, although nobody is really sure because only one has been reproduced for the public to read in which the kid says the player is "dead to me" and he calls him a racial slur.

Here's a link to the story: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-31906452

I guess the question I'm asking myself is should racially derogatory speech be a crime? I really can't come to a clear conclusion. Sometimes I think yes...sometimes I think no. It's one of those issues that's really hard to balance.

In my opinion, yes. Freedom of speech should have limits. When you're actively promoting violence or hate against certain people then you overstep.

[caervek]

I don't think we want to make rude comments fall under "hate crime".

It wasn't a rude comment it was a racist slur. Slurs against peoples race/religion are on a different tier from regular insults and should not be tolerated in civilised society.

[Navitas]

To paraphrase Adam Hills: think of Twitter as a massive pub where there's thousands of conversations going on at once. When you tweet someone directly you are doing the equivalent of walking up to them and shouting in their face.

So racially abusing someone on Twitter should be a criminal offence. The kid was 15 and probably didn't know better. I'm guessing he won't do it again.

[NewOrleansTrolley]

This topic will be marred by a cultural divide. In Europe, it's OK for a government to tell people what they can't say if the government doesn't agree with it. In the USA, it's a lot more open frontier. Both perspectives are shaped by history and each side is valid.

But in my opinion, the government has no right to tell what you can say or can't say. It's very odd.

[Deleted]

Clearly UK police have solved all crime in England and have run out of things to do.

Haha! Unfortunately not. Maybe a few of them were worried he was outdoing them and had to be stopped...

"...arrested on suspicion of racial abuse". The Nanny State strikes again.

Unless people are being directly threatened or actually physically attacked, bigotry and idiocy should just be condemned socially, not criminally. Let people espouse their backward hatred and get ridiculed and berated for it in the community. We don't need the legal system stepping in to prosecute people for thought crime or crimespeak.

The risk of hurt feelings should not put free expression in jeopardy.

[AeneasBK]

I only saw a censored version. C*** to me is a different and non-racial insult so I'm guessing its the other one.

"Wellbeck is dead to me f****** c***..."

Bit of a stretch to call that a death-threat or incitement to violence.

[Deleted]

As a black person I feel a certain and direct anger whenever someone tries to use free speech to mask their veiled racist attacks on my people.


#LetMyPeopleGo

[RicardoZ]

In my opinion, yes. Freedom of speech should have limits. When you're actively promoting violence or hate against certain people then you overstep.

I totally agree, I just don't think we have a balanced enough set of people in positions of power to be able to decide what constitutes hate, and I'm not just talking about the UK (Honestly I know very little of the political goings-on in Britain), but here in the US I know similar legislation has been proposed, notably in New York a couple of years ago, although it ultimately failed.

[Revi]

It wasn't a rude comment it was a racist slur. Slurs against peoples race/religion are on a different tier from regular insults and should not be tolerated in civilised society.

Where do you draw the line? If I call some white kid a pale loser, I guess I'm going to jail as well? How about "coloured", that's apparently not okey anymore either. I call a black guy coloured, do I go to jail? Cracker? Beaner? Abbie? Cheesehead? Guido? Spade?

Better not jokingly call an American a yank under your rules.

Why should an insult that doesn't threaten, slander, harass or incite harm in any way be grounds for arrest just because it refers to their colour or cultural background?

[Sting]

It wasn't a rude comment it was a racist slur. Slurs against peoples race/religion are on a different tier from regular insults and should not be tolerated in civilised society.

Different tiers? Lmao! Who's making this tier list, and will it on liquipedia anytime soon?

[Deleted]

Where do you draw the line? If I call some white kid a pale loser, I guess I'm going to jail as well? How about "coloured", that's apparently not okey anymore either. I call a black guy coloured, do I go to jail? Cracker? Beaner? Abbie? Cheesehead? Guido? Spade?

Better not jokingly call an American a yank under your rules.

Why should an insult that doesn't threaten, slander, harass or incite harm in any way be grounds for arrest just because it refers to their colour or cultural background?

I take it you're a white person? You need to be more PC than minorities such as myself because we are still disadvantaged in society. Every time you take a swipe at a black/brown person pertaining to their skin colour or any prejudice stemming from that you're inciting hate.

If I called a white person pale it would not be a hate crime and that's how it should be until the imbalance which favours white people is corrected.

[Sting]

I take it you're a white person? You need to be more PC than minorities such as myself because we are still disadvantaged in society. Every time you take a swipe at a black/brown person pertaining to their skin colour or any prejudice stemming from that you're inciting hate.

If I called a white person pale it would not be a hate crime and that's how it should be until the imbalance which favours white people is corrected.

Please be satire, please be satire, please be satire

[Mister K]

Nice straw-men you are setting up there. Except they have nothing to do with what I have written, try to read my posts again and respond in a more intelligent fashion.

how is that Straw-men, he asked a valid question which I am curious what your answer to that is. Counter-straw-men.

[Deleted]

Please be satire, please be satire, please be satire

Positive discrimination in the UK and also America is necessary so long as the gap between me and my white neighbour exists.

[NewOrleansTrolley]

I take it you're a white person? You need to be more PC than minorities such as myself because we are still disadvantaged in society. Every time you take a swipe at a black/brown person pertaining to their skin colour or any prejudice stemming from that you're inciting hate.

If I called a white person pale it would not be a hate crime and that's how it should be until the imbalance which favours white people is corrected.

No offense, man. But go take a swing at the moon. You're fighting imaginary dinosaurs when the white people you're talking about are thinking about something else entirely. (for the most part). And the longer you feel this way, the longer you'll wait for the improvement you wish to see.

Oh, and hashtag / itsnotalwaysaboutrace.

[Sting]

No offense, man. But go take a swing at the moon. You're fighting imaginary dinosaurs when the white people you're talking about are thinking about something else entirely. (for the most part). And the longer you feel this way, the longer you'll wait for the improvement you wish to see.

Oh, and hashtag / itsnotalwaysaboutrace.

Just disengage, it's bait.

[Deleted]

This topic will be marred by a cultural divide. In Europe, it's OK for a government to tell people what they can't say if the government doesn't agree with it. In the USA, it's a lot more open frontier. Both perspectives are shaped by history and each side is valid.

But in my opinion, the government has no right to tell what you can say or can't say. It's very odd.

When what you're saying is breaking the law yes the government has every right to detain you.