Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

I agree, it was in very poor taste, but getting the police involved is going too far.

The thought police will be on their way before you know it.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

Seems to be typical of todays snowflake society: The total overreaction to what is in reality a minor event but blown up out of all proportion by the press and politicians for their own ends and the police going along with the nonsense.

Meanwhile the rising tide of knife crime, murders, burglaries etc continues unabated.

No doubt the keyboard warriors are already formulating their death threats to those involved blind to the irony of their actions. :rolleyes:

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

The men who did this say that they now fear for their lives and deny being racist.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

Not the outcome they expected.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

I suppose it's part and parcel of them getting tougher on this sort of thing.

---------- Post added at 20:02 ---------- Previous post was at 19:58 ----------

I can see where your coming from, but a zero tolerance to internet bullying etc could well prevent the perpetrators going on to do things in person.

I do believe that, as austerity took hold, some things weren't dealt with and we are now reaping the result of this.

---------- Post added at 20:06 ---------- Previous post was at 20:02 ----------

Absolutely, maybe some good can come out of this though and it will encourage more people to think twice before uploading anything objectionable on the internet.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

Objectionable in whose opinion ?

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

That's part of the problem. These guys just thought it was funny and probably had no idea it would cause widespread offence.

They know now.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

The fact these people's names will be all over the internet for years to come relating to this is a greater punishment than the police can ever give. All because of one stupid stunt.

I do wonder what on earth they were thinking. I find it bizarre they even went the trouble of producing little cardboard people to represent those who died and recorded the whole thing whilst shouting 'jump', it's a lot of effort to go to that you wonder if it ever crossed their minds how dumb it was.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

A former chief prosecutors view.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

once you go down this road, it's a hand cart to hell.

You make offending someone a criminal act.

In regards to this particular stunt, did I find it funny....no, did I think it in poor taste....yes. Was I offended by it........NO.

If I had friends or relatives die in that tower of course I would think differently.......but it's still subjective.

to use the Malicious Communications Act is tenuous and I don't think it was written for this type of incident.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/27/section/1

it's more to do with a directed attack on an individual, not something that is broadcast.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

The problem is, Den, that some people draw offence from the smallest things these days. Where do you draw the line?

Have you watched any comedy shows lately? Most gags used these days are going to offend somebody.

No, I think we should not do anything which restricts free speech any further and we do not want to get sucked into a police state.

I thought we left 1984 behind a long time ago.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

l agree.

---------- Post added at 09:55 ---------- Previous post was at 09:52 ----------

Indeed it was in very poor taste but was l personally offended by it and the answer is no.

---------- Post added at 09:59 ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 ----------

Other then them being arrested l would be pretty surprised if charges are levelled at them and it ends up in court.

---------- Post added at 10:03 ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 ----------

l could get offended every day if l wanted to but it takes a lot to offend me nowadays as l just let things ride over me nowadays as there are far more important things to think about in life IMO.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

Also can this law be applied to the burning of other effigies such as Boris Johnson etc?

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

Everything trivial these days gets magnified to excess, simply because we don't really have anything 'proper' to worry about, so we think triviality is really really important.

I'd guarantee if we had a proper crisis to worry about, all this bs would evaporate in a heartbeat.

My parents who lived and served through WW2 could show the modern generation a thing or two about things to be offended/concerned about.

It's all about perspective, there's nothing out there as a threat to concentrate peoples minds. In my day we were all concerned about being nuked and the 4 minute warning etc.

Re: Police to get tough on internet trolls.
 

And up to 10 years ago, there wasn’t the instant connectivity/escalation/viral explosions of stuff like this, due to social media and click bait headlines in the online media, and the need to fill the 24x7 news cycle.