Twitter Bomb Joke Case Rolls Back Into UK Courts

judgecorp writes "Paul Chambers, the Briton whose joke on Twitter backfired, will be back in court following a legal stalemate, after more than two years. Chambers joked about blowing up South Yorkshire's Robin Hood airport in January 2010, and was arrested and fined for 'sending a public electronic message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.' His resultant criminal record lost him his job as an accountant. Now his appeal has been heard, but the two judges disagreed with each other, so Chambers will be back in court again."

Comments

Even free speech has its limit

[Taco Cowboy]

How can a threat to bomb an airport be considered as a joke?

People might be saying that it's "free speech", but even free speech has its limit

While I get to enjoy the freedom of speech of saying anything that I want to say, I must be responsible for any word that comes out of my mouth (and also the words that I typed onto my keyboard)

If I say I want to kill somebody, it's a threat, and should not be considered as "free speech" anymore

And of course, I have to be responsible for what I said