Anyone seen woman arrested for saying f****t in a private text message?

[Whywhywhyyyy]

This is completely bizarre. The news is thin on the ground so to see it I would have to link the mail or other obscure sites; but they are talking about this on Sky News abroad so assume it’s legit.

Apparently woman was arrested by 10 officers and dragged naked from a bath tub because she called a person who hospitalised her from assault a faggot in a message ranting to a supposed friend who reported her for using that word.

What is going on in this country?!

Yes sure that’s unpleasant. But is that really illegal? And if she has been hospitalised by this person then do I really care if someone uses bad words - even if they are hateful.

YABU - that’s a perfectly appropriate use of the law
YANBU - WTF is going on in this country!

Yes.

That's what living in a free society is.

Sometimes, it's hearing speech you dislike or even hate. No one has melted from hearing a word or words that they disliked.

"Hate speech" is arbitrary. Just because one person finds it hateful doesn't mean another will.

What if the person speaking didn't mean their speech in a hateful manner but was joking or it was taken the wrong way-should that speech be criminalised?

My son has melted, many young teens growing up with such slurs end up with severe MH problems.

As sad as that is, none of that justifies criminalising someone for speech.

Many of us have been bullied growing up. It sucks and it can stay with you a long time. However, I wouldn't want one of my bullies placed in jail just because they called me words I didn't like or that stuck with me.

Young teens can also end up with severe MH problems when they're coddled by their parents or because of other factors, too. Oftentimes, it's hard to pin MH problems down specifically to one cause.

It's not reasonable or sane to expect everyone who uses words you dislike to be arrested and criminally punished for it.

Or else, where does it end?

If I hear a word I dislike, am I allowed to label it hate speech and get the person arrested for it?

Yes it does , it causes harm. Not wanting your son to endure homophobic slurs at school is not coddling.

The perpetrators were expelled and rightly so.

They aren’t just words I dislike, they’re socially unacceptable .

Im sure glad that the person who reported the text isnt a friend of mine !!

Yes, I agree, bullies should be expelled or suspended, depending on the severity.

However, I disagree with criminalising people for saying words that "cause harm." Define harm. Define distress. These are arbitrary, subjective terms that mean different things to different people and thus, should be impossible to police.

Expecting adults to be arrested for saying words you find offensive is ludicrous. If offence is the measure on which we decide criminality-then crimes are subjective, aren't they and speech is no longer free.

Yes, they are socially unacceptable, sure, I have already said I accept that premise.

Socially unacceptable should not equal criminal, though. Do you want everyone who says a socially unacceptable word to be imprisoned? How big do you think our prisons are?

Me, too.

Seems like she was just vindictive and looking for an opportunity to hurt her "friend."

It's a horrible story, not least because the police didn't just laugh the friend out of the station and took it seriously. No wonder the respect for the police is tanking.

I would wait until I had concrete information before rushing to be outraged

Mot talking about prison.Many criminal activities don’t end in prison.

Why, do you use homophobic language and want to be free to use it?

Why do you think speech you don't like should be criminalised?

Do you think we're all a nation of babies who need to be taken care of by the police, lest we hear something that "causes distress?"

It’s not Speech I don’t like , it’s hate speech .

Do you think it's reasonable to arrest something for a word said in private text message?

Define hate.

It's getting to the point now where the government/police should just issue a list of words you are now no longer allowed to use in text form because at the moment they seem to just be making law and order up as they go along.

It wasn’t one text. The reports make that clear.

Given how subjective this word is in some parts of the country, I would be amazed if the police charged her on the grounds of homophobia. That is, rightly, a very high bar.
Depending on the quantity and content of the other messages as to whether this will pass the threshold for malicious communications.

I feared this new legislation would be misused, as it is so open to interpretation. It doesn’t sit well with freedom of speech. The definition will need to be tightened in time.

So?

Do you like living in a society where the police will knock on your door because you sent some texts?

Don't you think the police have and should have better things to be doing?

Did that happen, I'd like to see full information from a reputable source?

So someone texts you ‘Olive is a vacuous bitch’. They do it repeatedly. They do it at 3 in the morning. You block their number. They use other numbers. They continue to text you. They start texting the same thing to your partner. Your parents. Your children. Do you not police that at all? If so at what point? Under what law?

Again-that would constitute stalking and harassment.

Not what this was, but I suspect you know that.

There's a difference between wanting to police actual crimes i.e., stalking and harassment, and wanting to police actual words just because someone found them offensive, get it?

You do know Google is a real thing, right, and you can just, you know, use it?

Anyway, here: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/37356128/mum-convicted-hate-crime-text-attacker/

At what point? They’re just words. The prosecution’s case here was that Kinney sent abusive and homophobic texts. Which she admitted. Why are you so committed to allowing the unfettered sending of abuse to women?