Arrested for trolling?

[Depone]

Those people are protesting - even if you don't agree with them, they can argue they had a political motive.

The only motive this guy had was to cause emotional distress to a grieving family. He's not exercising free speech to make a point about God or politics, his ONLY motivation was to make the parents of a dead teenager cry. There is a big difference!

Thats exactly how i feel about this. Stand With wub's points also.
I actually feel this is justified because he clearly crossed the line.

I believe that they should not be treated any diferently in saying things on facebook or to peoples physical faces. Its just that in facebook or the whole of the internet, theres the physical barrier.
Honestly believe he deserved what he was sentenced for.

And people saying its violating freedom of speech??? Nah this guy was being a total tnuc just for the internet kiks

[Kodachrome]

Who are you to decide his motive? The motive is irrelevant anyways, you're basically saying you should be locked up for saying things to make people cry.

P.S. Your mother is an aging whore, see what I'm getting at?

Yes, that family having another thing to cry over because of some asshole sucks, but what happened to that guy sucks too regardless of whether people think he deserved it or not. This sets a scary precedent, where do we draw the line?

Your views seem to be that we draw the line wherever you deem it appropriate.

This seems an easy one to draw a line for. I don't doubt there will be harder ones... but honestly, I can't think of a justification that would excuse what he did. Perhaps jail is harsh, but he needed dealing with by the state somehow - even if it was a year's ban from being online or something.

You calling my mother a whore in a conversation like this doesn't carry any offense whatsoever - I'm quite hard to offend actually, and I imagine I would've deleted these pics without getting the police involved... it's not my line, it's the victim's line. If they suffered emotional distress because of his actions, he committed a crime... if they didn't, he probably didn't. It's up to a court, not us to decide which way it falls. The court decided he committed a crime.

It was a bloody public forum.

[magma]

Who are you to decide his motive? The motive is irrelevant anyways, you're basically saying you should be locked up for saying things to make people cry.

P.S. Your mother is an aging whore, see what I'm getting at?

Yes, that family having another thing to cry over because of some asshole sucks, but what happened to that guy sucks too regardless of whether people think he deserved it or not. This sets a scary precedent, where do we draw the line?

Your views seem to be that we draw the line wherever you deem it appropriate.

This seems an easy one to draw a line for. I don't doubt there will be harder ones... but honestly, I can't think of a justification that would excuse what he did. Perhaps jail is harsh, but he needed dealing with by the state somehow - even if it was a year's ban from being online or something.

You calling my mother a whore in a conversation like this doesn't carry any offense whatsoever - I'm quite hard to offend actually, and I imagine I would've deleted these pics without getting the police involved... it's not my line, it's the victim's line. If they suffered emotional distress because of his actions, he committed a crime... if they didn't, he probably didn't. It's up to a court, not us to decide which way it falls. The court decided he committed a crime.

It was a bloody public forum.

It was a Facebook page dedicated to their daughter's memory, wasn't it?! It's not the same as posting it up on SNH where you can defend yourself with "Well, if they saw it, they searched for it".

This guy made the most offensive thing he could think of and intentionally waved it under their nose.... and you don't see the difference?!

[pulkpull]

The fact that people are actually trying to defend his actions, and the right of people to go out and intentionally cause (emotional or physical) harm and distress to people for no reason other than their own amusement makes me sad.

To then see people dress it up as some kind of attack on freedom of speech makes me fucking annoyed.

By the way, it's already illegal to send hate mail either by post or electronic means - this isn't any different to my mind. I don't see any precedents being set.

[Kodachrome]

The fact that people are actually trying to defend his actions, and the right of people to go out and intentionally cause (emotional or physical) harm and distress to people for no reason other than their own amusement makes me sad.

To then see people dress it up as some kind of attack on freedom of speech makes me fucking annoyed.

By the way, it's already illegal to send hate mail either by post or electronic means - this isn't any different to my mind. I don't see any precedents being set.

Except it's a public forum. The guy didn't even send it to their personal emails.

Maybe it's a cultural thing? In the UK do you not have the same kind of American fears of the government taking possibly good initiatives like this and pushing them too far or using them for more nefarious purposes?

EDIT: Trying to think of what Bill Hicks would say about this, but I'm just not Bill Hicks.

[pulkpull]

...how can you not see the difference between posting it say, on here, and posting it in a memorial page that is full of friends and relatives? If he didn't want them to see it he wouldn't have posted it there. The implication is obvious: he wanted them to see it.

[magma]

The fact that people are actually trying to defend his actions, and the right of people to go out and intentionally cause (emotional or physical) harm and distress to people for no reason other than their own amusement makes me sad.

To then see people dress it up as some kind of attack on freedom of speech makes me fucking annoyed.

By the way, it's already illegal to send hate mail either by post or electronic means - this isn't any different to my mind. I don't see any precedents being set.

Except it's a public forum. The guy didn't even send it to their personal emails.

The street outside their house is a "public forum" too... would it be ok by you to stand just outside their property holding offensive banners about their dead daughter? I mean, it's a public street... you're not standing in their driveway.

Utterly irrelevant. He picked where to insult them for the maximum chance of causing offense - to the parents, to friends and to whatever other loved ones were visiting that page with the sole purpose of grieving for a dead teenager.

He didn't post it on 4Chan where just anyone could see it, he made sure the family would see it. If this is the only point you have left, you're really reaching...

[Kodachrome]

...how can you not see the difference between posting it say, on here, and posting it in a memorial page that is full of friends and relatives? If he didn't want them to see it he wouldn't have posted it there. The implication is obvious: he wanted them to see it.

I'm saying they are both still public.

I see the difference, I just don't think that difference should exist and that if it does exist then the law should be 100% clear about it.

Magma you're accusing me of not seeing your side when you fail to acknowledge the finer points of mine, one being that no, some facebook page is not the street outside their home!

[pulkpull]

So just to be clear; when a relative of yours next dies (here's hoping it isn't too soon), I'm fine to grab a load of people with banners and megaphones, camp outside your house and shout obscenities? I also intend on bringing a lifesize spitting image replica of said relative and penetrating it repeatedly while your young family watches.

Edit: or if you're not going to be in I can do it somewhere else, record it, and post it on the memorial page so everyone can see the delighted look on the replica's face.

Edit 2: Just to be clear, I really have no intention of ever doing that to anyone. I'm using the values and beliefs that have been espoused elsewhere in this thread to mock those very same values and beliefs.

[Kodachrome]

So just to be clear; when a relative of yours next dies (here's hoping it isn't too soon), I'm fine to grab a load of people with banners and megaphones, camp outside your house and shout obscenities? I also intend on bringing a lifesize spitting image replica of said relative and penetrating it repeatedly while your young family watches.

Oh you're right that's totally the same!



Feel free to take a picture and post it on the internet though, I imagine that'd be pretty embarrassing for you.

Edit to your edit: Please do so, I'd just delete it or make the memorial group require confirmation first like any thinking person would do.

[RandoRando]

it doesnt matter if the comments are disgusting and hurtful, nobody should go to prison for typing words on a keyboard, if it was a threat or something of the like i can see further punishment (idk about prison), but serioulsy for trolling? Its been stated that the trolls dont even know the dead person, which makes it even more of a "joke". The situation AND the fact that they face prison, put real criminals in jail.

[Kodachrome]

it doesnt matter if the comments are disgusting and hurtful, nobody should go to prison for typing words on a keyboard, if it was a threat or something of the like i can see further punishment (idk about prison), but serioulsy for trolling? Its been stated that the trolls dont even know the dead person, which makes it even more of a "joke". The situation AND the fact that they face prison, put real criminals in jail.

Ugh why does it have to be Rando arguing on my side?




Changing my position completely, put these fuckers in prison!!!!

[magma]

Magma you're accusing me of not seeing your side when you fail to acknowledge the finer points of mine, one being that no, some facebook page is not the street outside their home!

No, I'm disagreeing with you. I understand what you're saying perfectly and find it disappointing in the extreme.

Freedom of speech is a sacred right that we should fight to the death for on the Internet or wherever else it's threatened... the ability of vindictive bastards to make themselves feel good by seeking out grieving human beings to torment is a sad by-product of the Internet, it is not something that requires defending. This man going to prison (for a few weeks) will not stop ANYONE making a political point on the internet... it might stop a few people acting like total stnuc to their fellow man.

Again. No new laws were required for this. This isn't a precident.

[AllNightDayDream]

In the UK, posting mean things may send you to jail, but luckily I live in a country where it's not as simple as that. I realize that there is a line in which something like this becomes harassment, when the family can't escape such things, and the main offender in the article did indeed post some things directly on the family's tribute page. However, other offenses involved separate facebook pages dedicated to bashing whichever victim, and I don't see how that could qualify as harassment because it's perfectly in their ability to avoid the page. Same goes for racist and homophobic boards.

Regardless, even when these offenses do cross the line, it's obvious that the offender himself either has mental deficiencies or gone through abuse himself. The man in question in the article was diagnosed with aspergers, and I think in cases like this an investigation into behavior of the parents wouldn't be out of order. Overall I think the fact that he did this so frequently, sometimes harassed them directly, and caused the suicide attempt of an innocent girl definitely qualifies for state action, but I think they should address his own medical problems in the sentencing.

Ultimately i'm identifying more with magma's premise that when you seek out to harass people directly, that begins to cause a legal concern.

[fassyman]

magma talking sense as usuall, though i do find it a little over the top that he recieved a prison sentance when rapists and criminals who are a real threat and a danger to the public are being given reduced sentances, being let out early n that

i just dont know what the fucks goin on sometimes, there seems to be a misjudgment of priorities going on, but i wont pretend to know enough about the subject to suggest some sort of resolution.

regardless, this guy is clearly a tnuc

[Perfecture]

If someone made abusive comments on a memorial page about a close friend or family member who had died in my life, I would have no problem fuckin them up. In this life you get what you give......NUFF SAID.

[JFK]

Freedom of speech, for one thing. Also, these 'victims' should suck it up even if they don't realize they're just being trolled, not kill themselves or take legal action!

It's one thing to take the piss out of people on the Internet in a light hearted manner when you at least part know them; it's another thing altogether to crash into people's tribute pages and start giving their friends and family shit just because you can.

good point, but still freedom of speech. it shouldn't be legal to arrest somebody for that...not saying that I agree with harassing a dead person, but seriously.

JR you are a twat. Seriously.

How about I start making anti American and anti Christian posts aimed directly at you? Would you defend my right to do that? Im guessing probably not.

Freedom of speech is one thing. Setting out to hurt people for no other reason than to amuse yourself is unacceptable. There is no defense and I for one hope tha tnuc that harrassed those people gets the living shit beaten out of him each and every day he is inside that jail.

[yoowan]

some fucking retards in this thread.

i'm glad he got sent down. bang to rights

read john stuart mill's 'on liberty' if you disagree with my sentiments

[Clean]

Why the fuck do people make Facebook memorials?

It's just asking assholes to come and post stupid comments like that twat.

[mIrReN]

why so serious?