Not-So Free Speech: The UK Version
Headline: “Sean Duffy case highlights murky world of trolling”
A man has been jailed for 18 weeks for sending abusive messages on social networking sites.
Sean Duffy, from Reading, Berkshire, posted hurtful remarks on pages set up in remembrance of girls who had died.
His victims were the bereaved relatives of people he did not know, and included the family of Worcester teenager Natasha MacBryde who killed herself after being bullied.
I think maybe spending 18 weeks in jail for activity that could have been stopped with a simple technological switch is a bit out of bounds.
“He also posted a video on YouTube, entitled Tasha the Tank Engine, showing the children’s character Thomas the Tank Engine with Miss MacBryde’s face.
Miss MacBryde had thrown herself under a train after being cyber-bullied in a separate incident.”
Not sure what the technological switch you mention would be.Report
Nobody is going to know about the youtube video unless he shares it. Which he probably did, via the Facebook group (from which he could have been booted)? I admittedly don’t know the full details of the story.
Yes, he’s a boor. Yes, he looks like a thug and a bully. Four and a half months in jail is a ridiculous penalty for writing words, no matter what the words are.Report
So, in the UK you can be jailed for annoying the bereaved online, while in the US you can make a nice living from desecrating funerals in person.Report