Do Mumsnet have to report intent to break the law

[LovelyLovelyMe]

If a poster openly declares an intent to break the law, are Mumsnet under an obligation to forward their details to the police?

What details?

Are you talking about the current UK government OP?

Well that would shut down all covid chat pretty quickly.

Hi @LovelyLovelyMe if you have any concerns about any posts, please hit 'report' and send it to: [email protected] and we'll be happy to take a look.

Are we sure that OP (from that thread) isn’t just on the wind up....?

Surely police can only do something when a crime has been committed. They can't arrest or do anything to someone on the premise that they may at some point in the future commit a crime. If that was the case, we could all be locked up because, in the future, we may break the speed limit or we may steal something from a shop or we may have a drink and then drive.

What a bizarre concept.

@SqidgeBum

Surely police can only do something when a crime has been committed. They can't arrest or do anything to someone on the premise that they may at some point in the future commit a crime. If that was the case, we could all be locked up because, in the future, we may break the speed limit or we may steal something from a shop or we may have a drink and then drive.

What a bizarre concept.

If it's the thread I'm thinking about, it was the incitement by (many) others for the OP to break the law that was mentioned. I believe that is illegal without a crime being committed (but am not a lawyer!)

Surely police can only do something when a crime has been committed. They can't arrest or do anything to someone on the premise that they may at some point in the future commit a crime

Depends what exactly someone writes. You can be arrested for inciting violence or for conspiracy to murder without actually having done it yet, for example.

I imagine this OP is talking about people saying they wont follow the 6 people rule. Maybe I am wrong but that was my assumption. Of course inciting violence is actually a crime so it can be acted on even if no violence was committed by the person who incited it. However, simply saying you will meet your 2 parents with your husband and 3 kids isnt a crime. From Monday it will be a crime to actually do it, but saying you will do it isnt a crime, so therefore my assumption would be that police cannot come knocking on your door because you said you will do it.

Not to mention I doubt even have the man power to knock on your door even if you did actually break the law and see your parents.

@SqidgeBum

Surely police can only do something when a crime has been committed. They can't arrest or do anything to someone on the premise that they may at some point in the future commit a crime. If that was the case, we could all be locked up because, in the future, we may break the speed limit or we may steal something from a shop or we may have a drink and then drive.

What a bizarre concept.

I think that's wrong.

If someone is drunk and says that they will drive their car home and can't be dissuaded, would the police respond.

What if someone declares that they will murder someone.

What if someone talks about their intent to bomb a pop concert.

Would it really be of no interest to the police?

I thought, maybe wrongly, that if someone announced-in public-their intent to commit a crime, then informing the police of that intent would be the right thing to do.

I certainly thought that the owners of a website in which that intent was announced would have a duty to inform the police but maybe not and that is why I'm asking.

OP, 7 people consensually sharing space is in no way comparable to terrorism or conspiracy to murder.

MNHQ should not be handing over members' personal details. And the police will not appreciate being completely overwhelmed by reports.

No, I wasn't comparing the crime-I was comparing the principle.

I don't think that there would be too many 'crimes' would be a justification for the police to ignore them.

Anyway, no-one really seems to know the answer, so I suppose the best people to ask would be the police or one of these new Covid Marshalls.

Thanks everyone.

That poster is only going break the law in a specific and limited way.

That's fine now.

Whether MNHQ should hand over details to the police or not I am shocked that they allow posts encouraging people to break the law to stand.

I can't imagine they'd allow a post telling someone to drink drive, because they'd likely get away with it, to stand would they?

That poster is only going break the law in a specific and limited way.

Apparently that's all the rage now, as long as you announce it in advance @FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack.

OP, if all the people on the net who say they will break the rules are reported, the service would break. It takes time and effort tracking down the real person behind the screen name. Then, they have to wait until the crime is committed. That's a whole lot of resources for something minor or that may not even happen at all.

I have also wondered this - I've seen many people on the IVF boards state they are lying to the NHS to obtain free fertility treatment - eg NHS rules state if you pay privately for a cycle of IVF first then it gets deducted from any NHS cycles - if you were only entitled to one on the NHS then the person would get no free NHS cycles. But some posters freely admit to lying and saying they haven't had any previous private treatment so they can get the NHS one? Which in my mind is blatant fraud? And therefore illegal?
Where does MN draw the line? If we report those posts then they just get removed? Doesn't MN have a social as well as legal responsibility to report these members to relevant bodies/authorities?

I dont think Mumsnet should become Snitchnet.

OP, would you want MN to report people?

I don't know about MN reporting people but I do think posts actively encouraging people to break the law should be taken down

I'd report someone who I found out was planning a terrorist attack to the police.

I expect MNHQ would as well.

Not read the thread. What's being planned?!

Someone is having a birthday party with 10 guests NiceGerbil

Oh.

Oh please 😂

@SqidgeBum

Surely police can only do something when a crime has been committed. They can't arrest or do anything to someone on the premise that they may at some point in the future commit a crime. If that was the case, we could all be locked up because, in the future, we may break the speed limit or we may steal something from a shop or we may have a drink and then drive.

What a bizarre concept.

Well, no. Attempting/conspiring to commit offences are offences in themselves.

@FTMF30

OP, would you want MN to report people?

I'm wondering if they have a duty to do so when intent to break the law is clearly expressed.

'snitch net'- a bit silly surely, implying that it is wrong to report people who do wrong. We're not living in Sherwood Forest, all on the side of Robin Hood or in an Enid Blyton Mallory Towers novel or even the gangster conclaves of 1930s England.

If I see, read or hear of someone breaking-or intending to break the law-I will report them to the relevant authorities.

I'm wondering if that is the same for a host site which allows such views to stand.

My opinion is that it should report any intent to break the law because it's not up to any site to take upon itself the task of deciding which people it will report. That would imply that Mumsnet is an arbiter of which laws should be obeyed and I don't think that is their role.

If someone has declared their intention to break the law and Mumsnet allows that post to stand, presumably that means that Mumsnet agrees with the breaking of that law.

I don't know though and, as I said earlier, no-one else seems to know either so I suppose the police would have to decide what, if anything, to do.

Anyway, thanks again for all the views.