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UK Police Warn Sharing James Foley Killing Video Is a Crime

Posted by samzenpus on from the do-not-pass-go dept.

An anonymous reader points out that UK authorities have warned that sharing the video of the James Foley murder could lead to prosecution under anti-terror laws. Scotland Yard has warned internet users they could be arrested under terrorism legislation if they viewed or shared the video of James Foley's murder, as Twitter and YouTube attempted to remove all trace of the footage from the web. Twitter suspended dozens of accounts that published the graphic footage while YouTube tried to remove several copies of the video, which was first uploaded on Tuesday night. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo tweeted: "We have been and are actively suspending accounts as we discover them related to this graphic imagery. Thank you." The unprecedented social media clampdown came as the Metropolitan police warned that even viewing the video could constitute a criminal offence in the UK. The force said in a statement: "The MPS counter-terrorism command (SO15) is investigating the contents of the video that was posted online in relation to the alleged murder of James Foley. We would like to remind the public that viewing, downloading or disseminating extremist material within the UK may constitute an offence under terrorism legislation."

5 of 391 comments (clear)

  1. Oh really? I thought this was AMERICA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Link to video is here. Scotland Yard can suck eggs. http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/temp.html?i=bc1_1408481278

    Captcha: resistor
    lol

  2. Seems to be working really well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/temp.html?i=bc1_1408481278

  3. Over-eager Press Office by fremsley471 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The London Metropolitan Police Press Office released this statement. When challenged by a lawyer, they could only point vaguely to anti-terror laws and say things like "Do you want people to watch it". So it's PR people, probably with no legal training, who are making up laws on the hoof (and with no apparent correction from their superiors).

    Fuller story here (free reg required):
    http://blogs.ft.com/david-alle...?

  4. Re:The power of images... by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Informative

    A north vietnamese point-blank to the head execution...

    A girl running from a napalm attack, her clothes half burned off...

    Bodies piled in German concentration camps...

    An explosion over Hiroshima...

    Are these photos now forbidden as well?

    But sharing them wouldn't be islamaphobic and upset the "religion of peace". The government is in full appeasement mode

  5. They're wrong by tomtomtom · · Score: 4, Informative

    They just made this up. See this which was written by an actual lawyer, not a press office: Is viewing a video a criminal offence under terrorism law? (may be paywalled).