Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter
It was reported on ITV This Morning that, in a school WhatsApp group, one member chose to make hostile & inflammatory comments whilst discussing the appointment of a new headmaster. The school made a complaint because these remarks were upsetting to their staff, Governors and children.
Six police were sent round to the house of the parent who had done this to arrest them. They were held at the police station for eight hours whilst investigations were made.about harrassment & malicious communication.
It's good that the police are taking the Online Safety Act seriously and, after eight hours, I doubt that they will be doing anything similar again, but six police officers seems like overkill to me at a time when they are saying that they have too few resources.
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You know that “the process is the punishment” is not a good thing, right?
It isn’t the police’s job to punish perceived maliciousness by turning up mob-handed and detaining people for hours because of *allegedly* hurty words on WhatsApp. I wonder how quickly Herts police turn up to a burglary, and how many officers they send round?
Add to that, a constable involved in the investigation has now contacted a
Hertfordshire County Councillor to warn her off doing her job on pain of being made a suspect in the investigation - he has advised her against contacting the school. For the avoidance of doubt, this is an elected official, whose job includes dealing with constituents’ issues regarding their local school.
Nothing about this is good, Richard, and the only possible good that can come out of this is that the police are going to get a good slapping at the hands of the Home Secretary and people may start to wake up to the highly illiberal and undesirable risks associated with what the Online Safety Act is trying (and manifestly failing) to achieve.