to think you have to be really really careful

[Aprillygirl]

about what you say online these days? The lady being held in Dubai right now for calling her ex husband an idiot is censorship gone mad in my opinion. I feel like we've all been sucked into this place called Social Media on the pretence that it's giving us,the plebs, a voice when really we are being watched,censored and controlled much more than we realise,and are becoming weak and scared to speak out incase because we are terrified to be thought of being nn pc.

That would of course would put an entirely different spin on things in this case then Thingsdogetbetter
I don't understand why she would take the risk to go over if this true though

The other side of the story is coming out. She'd been harassing them for years, sending emails to his work, his boss, his family etc. Had been previously warned by UK police on several occasions. The arrest was due to a incident and outstanding arrest warrant from 2 years ago, before the horse comment I believe. She was aware of the warrant and the risk when she choose to fly out, and to take their daughter with her.

There's way more to this story than first reported!

Just as we caution our children on SM use (or should) we need to think about what we say too.

Once it's online it's there forever, shocking though how the malicious communications act is currently being twisted to censor people here in the uk and unfortunately like a few other pps I suspect it'll get worse before it gets better.

But yes I'm the particular story referenced I understand that there's far more to it than the original headlines made out.

Yes you really do. It's always good to Google your name and be aware of your online presence. I know the hiring teams that scour people's social media to get an idea of the persona and indeed to scope out any curious posts.

That said - the Dubai story is another issue altogether; I wouldn't step foot in the country for fear I might be arrested because I was pictured using my left hand to pick up a glass in 1997 or whatever.

It's all a bit... variable. Quite a lot of the alleged 'martyrs to free speech' come across as attention-seeking, self-obsessed twats who were just looking for a fight, tbh. Equally, quite a lot of the people running off crying to authority when someone tells them to get fucked and shut up are crybullies, equally desperate for attention.

Saying that you should not say anything online that you would not say in public, is not enough. Plenty of people would say in public that you can not change sex for example, but that can still get you interviewed by the police if you say it online.
In terms of workplaces, an employer can of course take action if you say derogatory things online about their employer. But no I don't think employers should have the right to discipline people simply because an employee says something online they don't agree with. I agree that employers should not own people outside of work.

The definition of hate speech when it comes to trans issues seems far broader than most others and includes things that would just be normal in a biology textbook

Except when they actually look at it, it isn't hate speech at all.