More And More People Arrested In Britain For ‘Online Crimes Of Speech’

With the Draconian British laws revolving around language on social media, it’s no surprise that “online crimes of speech” are triggering more arrests in London.

According to The Register, arrests have skyrocketed 36% since 2010 for people using what is considered obscene, anxiety-causing, or offensive speech. Roughly 2,500 people have been arrested over the past five years for reportedly sending “offensive” messages.

Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 states that a person will be prosecuted if he/she: “sends by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character; or causes any such message or matter to be so sent.” The law continues: “A person is guilty of an offence if, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another, he sends by means of a public electronic communications network, a message that he knows to be false, causes such a message to be sent; or persistently makes use of a public electronic communications network.

Violators of the law can be sentenced to a six-month prison term or fine up to $5,500.

60% of those arrested were charged with “Sending messages intended to offend or menace.

One twitter user, 28-year-old Paul Chambers, decided to defy the law with a tweet encompassing all of the condemned activities. He tweeted: “Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky-high!!”Chambers was arrested, later admitting in an essay for The Guardian that his tweet was “ill-advised,” adding that his arrest made him believe “in such a hyper-sensitive world that we cannot engage in hyperbole…without having civil liberties trampled on by, at best, heavy-handed police.”

Chambers’ case was later dismissed on appeal two years later, but the initial law was given interim guidelines to amend its use. The new guidelines drew the parameters at credible threats of violence, harassment, or stalking.

Chambers’ threat was deemed not credible, but in recent years a common reason for arrests has been racist and anti-Muslim sentiments that have ben expressed.