Three Years in Prison for Posting Hatespeak

Vainglorious Coward writes "In the UK, a man has been sentenced to three years in prison for posting inflammatory messages to a website. Pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred on a site dedicated to the memory of a murdered black teenager, the 30-year old accused stated that he was not racist, and had intended to stir up an argument on the website, but did not believe in what he had written. The defending lawyer described her client as 'isolated and living in a fantasy world, spending hours on his computer in his room where his persona could be as he made it, good or bad.'"

Comments

Re:Crap, we have laws like that?

[1u3hr]

In more civilized societies, you need an actual violent act to happen before anyone's going on trial for inciting it, and even then, good luck getting a conviction. This incident is nothing more than thoughtcrime--it wasn't an American who wrote 1984.

Please, America has no moral authority on this issue since you started locking people up in places like Guantanamo and Bagram without a shred of due process.

Re:Trolls

[Dun Malg]

Try makeing any untoward comments about your almighty presedent, and how to depose him (violently or otherwise) and then see where your constitution gets you....

It gets you all the way up to the fence around the White House, where you can stand around all day shouting "IMPEACH BUSH" and waving your sign that reads "BUSH = HITLER, KILL BUSH NOW!"

Inciting crimes is illegal here (in the UK), as it is in the US.

True, but your above example doesn't even approach that.

And sedition is a thorny one both side of the pond.

Beyond a single absurd incident where the Veteran's Administration investigated one of its employees for writing a letter to the editor of the local paper, and a VA spokesperson foolishly claimed they had a "duty to investigate potential acts of sedition", there hasn't been any attempt to apply "sedition" here. this is precisely because sedition is a thorny 1st Amendment issue here. When the government goons come after you in the US, they make good and sure they can nail you for conspiracy. "sedition" is just too defensible.

Re:OT: spelling help

[Instine]

Thank you! You're the first person to offer constructive critsim re my spelling. Or dare I say it help even! Thank you very much. I'm dyslexic, and thus my posts are a mess. I've had the gramma nazi debate so many times I ignore all comments about spelling. Well untill now.

infact the unhelpful grama nazis are the reason I gave up using a spell checker (as I'd always miss the odd homophone and still get grief). There should be a (+5 Helpful)! I'd give you informative if I currently had any points.

Cheers.