Matthew Woods, 20, was convicted recently in the UK for derogatory comments on Facebook. He was, according to sources, arrested "for his own safety" given the controversy his post had caused.
Clearly, one shouldn't be arrested for "their own safety.". That implies its within their will. The report goes on to explain that it was also deemed "grossly offensive" and "of an indecent, obscene, or menacing character."
Speech laws in the United Kingdom are certainly different from those of the United States of America, but the case has currently come under fire from detractors complaining that the UK law is "archaic" and not modernized, but the issue goes far past the fact that it was an online comment.
If this were to happen in the US, for example, the situation would be vastly different. Remember Senator Akin? A few months ago, he claimed that women were able to "shut down pregnancies" in cases of "legitimate rape," which spread throughout the liberal media and attracted raves and threats towards him. This is, arguably, a comment "grossly offensive," and "of an indecent, obscene, or menacing character," and certainly given the magnitude of angry responses, his safety was most probably at risk. Yet, he wasn't arrested. He wasn't even remotely convicted.
This shows a pliable difference between the US and the UK in this regard.
OH NO SCALE: At least it's not us this time.
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