This week in free speech: two months in prison for social media post

[Metaphor]

https://apnews.com/article/soccer-s...social-media-027ac1d4e6f47375a0983d3358566f6b

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — A supporter of English club West Bromwich Albion was handed a jail sentence of eight weeks on Thursday for racially abusing one of his own team’s players on Facebook.

Simon Silwood posted a racist message about Romaine Sawyers, who is Black, following West Brom’s 5-0 loss to Manchester City in the Premier League on Jan. 26.
Silwood, 50, denied the offence, telling police his message was “stupid not racial” and claiming autocorrect had changed a word to make it read “baboon” instead of “buffoon.”
Silwood, who has been banned for life by West Brom, was convicted last month after a judge ruled he was “not a credible witness” and had meant the post to be offensive.
The court heard that Sawyers, who is currently on loan at second-tier club Stoke and was reporting a separate alleged racist social media post when he was shown Silwood’s message, was left feeling “harassed, alarmed and distressed” after reading it.
Passing sentence on Silwood at a court in Birmingham, central England, on Thursday, district judge Briony Clarke said he had shown “very minimal” remorse.
“In my view, it falls into the category of greatest harm,” the judge said. “We have to accept it had a wider impact and a substantial impact on Mr. Sawyers.”
Silwood was charged following an investigation carried out by Britain’s first dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit.
Prosecutors said Silwood posted the message to a West Brom Fan Zone group on Facebook, saying Sawyers should win the “Baboon d’Or” — a sarcastic reference to the Ballon d’Or trophy.
Sawyers said he felt “numb” when he read it.
“The whole incident has left me extremely upset,” he said in a statement provided to the court.
“I find it difficult to believe that in 2021 there are still people out in society who believe it is acceptable to behave like this.”
Rupert Jones, defending Silwood, said his client “has suffered a very public humiliation, entirely of his own doing” and has received threats since his conviction.
“He has now had the opportunity, somewhat ironically, to experience what that is like,” Jones said.

“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ”

 

[none]

https://apnews.com/article/soccer-s...social-media-027ac1d4e6f47375a0983d3358566f6b

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — A supporter of English club West Bromwich Albion was handed a jail sentence of eight weeks on Thursday for racially abusing one of his own team’s players on Facebook.

Simon Silwood posted a racist message about Romaine Sawyers, who is Black, following West Brom’s 5-0 loss to Manchester City in the Premier League on Jan. 26.
Silwood, 50, denied the offence, telling police his message was “stupid not racial” and claiming autocorrect had changed a word to make it read “baboon” instead of “buffoon.”
Silwood, who has been banned for life by West Brom, was convicted last month after a judge ruled he was “not a credible witness” and had meant the post to be offensive.
The court heard that Sawyers, who is currently on loan at second-tier club Stoke and was reporting a separate alleged racist social media post when he was shown Silwood’s message, was left feeling “harassed, alarmed and distressed” after reading it.
Passing sentence on Silwood at a court in Birmingham, central England, on Thursday, district judge Briony Clarke said he had shown “very minimal” remorse.
“In my view, it falls into the category of greatest harm,” the judge said. “We have to accept it had a wider impact and a substantial impact on Mr. Sawyers.”
Silwood was charged following an investigation carried out by Britain’s first dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit.
Prosecutors said Silwood posted the message to a West Brom Fan Zone group on Facebook, saying Sawyers should win the “Baboon d’Or” — a sarcastic reference to the Ballon d’Or trophy.
Sawyers said he felt “numb” when he read it.
“The whole incident has left me extremely upset,” he said in a statement provided to the court.
“I find it difficult to believe that in 2021 there are still people out in society who believe it is acceptable to behave like this.”
Rupert Jones, defending Silwood, said his client “has suffered a very public humiliation, entirely of his own doing” and has received threats since his conviction.
“He has now had the opportunity, somewhat ironically, to experience what that is like,” Jones said.

“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ”

And none of them are carrying firearms, tragedy any way you look at it.

 

[none]

Dejavu

 

[Bomb#20]

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

The common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel were formally abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and in Scotland in 2021.​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law_in_the_United_Kingdom

 

[KeepTalking]

https://apnews.com/article/soccer-s...social-media-027ac1d4e6f47375a0983d3358566f6b

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — A supporter of English club West Bromwich Albion was handed a jail sentence of eight weeks on Thursday for racially abusing one of his own team’s players on Facebook.

Simon Silwood posted a racist message about Romaine Sawyers, who is Black, following West Brom’s 5-0 loss to Manchester City in the Premier League on Jan. 26.
Silwood, 50, denied the offence, telling police his message was “stupid not racial” and claiming autocorrect had changed a word to make it read “baboon” instead of “buffoon.”
Silwood, who has been banned for life by West Brom, was convicted last month after a judge ruled he was “not a credible witness” and had meant the post to be offensive.
The court heard that Sawyers, who is currently on loan at second-tier club Stoke and was reporting a separate alleged racist social media post when he was shown Silwood’s message, was left feeling “harassed, alarmed and distressed” after reading it.
Passing sentence on Silwood at a court in Birmingham, central England, on Thursday, district judge Briony Clarke said he had shown “very minimal” remorse.
“In my view, it falls into the category of greatest harm,” the judge said. “We have to accept it had a wider impact and a substantial impact on Mr. Sawyers.”
Silwood was charged following an investigation carried out by Britain’s first dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit.
Prosecutors said Silwood posted the message to a West Brom Fan Zone group on Facebook, saying Sawyers should win the “Baboon d’Or” — a sarcastic reference to the Ballon d’Or trophy.
Sawyers said he felt “numb” when he read it.
“The whole incident has left me extremely upset,” he said in a statement provided to the court.
“I find it difficult to believe that in 2021 there are still people out in society who believe it is acceptable to behave like this.”
Rupert Jones, defending Silwood, said his client “has suffered a very public humiliation, entirely of his own doing” and has received threats since his conviction.
“He has now had the opportunity, somewhat ironically, to experience what that is like,” Jones said.

“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ”

I'm not sure this is really anything new in the UK. Their right to free speech is not one we would recognize in the States. I did find the following bit interesting:

"Silwood was charged following an investigation carried out by Britain’s first dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit."

They have a hate crime officer in a football team? Do they also have a petty crimes officer, a felonious assault officer, and so on? Either way this looks very Orwellian for the UK.

 

[laughing dog]

https://apnews.com/article/soccer-s...social-media-027ac1d4e6f47375a0983d3358566f6b

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — A supporter of English club West Bromwich Albion was handed a jail sentence of eight weeks on Thursday for racially abusing one of his own team’s players on Facebook.

Simon Silwood posted a racist message about Romaine Sawyers, who is Black, following West Brom’s 5-0 loss to Manchester City in the Premier League on Jan. 26.
Silwood, 50, denied the offence, telling police his message was “stupid not racial” and claiming autocorrect had changed a word to make it read “baboon” instead of “buffoon.”
Silwood, who has been banned for life by West Brom, was convicted last month after a judge ruled he was “not a credible witness” and had meant the post to be offensive.
The court heard that Sawyers, who is currently on loan at second-tier club Stoke and was reporting a separate alleged racist social media post when he was shown Silwood’s message, was left feeling “harassed, alarmed and distressed” after reading it.
Passing sentence on Silwood at a court in Birmingham, central England, on Thursday, district judge Briony Clarke said he had shown “very minimal” remorse.
“In my view, it falls into the category of greatest harm,” the judge said. “We have to accept it had a wider impact and a substantial impact on Mr. Sawyers.”
Silwood was charged following an investigation carried out by Britain’s first dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit.
Prosecutors said Silwood posted the message to a West Brom Fan Zone group on Facebook, saying Sawyers should win the “Baboon d’Or” — a sarcastic reference to the Ballon d’Or trophy.
Sawyers said he felt “numb” when he read it.
“The whole incident has left me extremely upset,” he said in a statement provided to the court.
“I find it difficult to believe that in 2021 there are still people out in society who believe it is acceptable to behave like this.”
Rupert Jones, defending Silwood, said his client “has suffered a very public humiliation, entirely of his own doing” and has received threats since his conviction.
“He has now had the opportunity, somewhat ironically, to experience what that is like,” Jones said.

“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ”

I'm not sure this is really anything new in the UK. Their right to free speech is not one we would recognize in the States. I did find the following bit interesting:

"Silwood was charged following an investigation carried out by Britain’s first dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit."

They have a hate crime officer in a football team? Do they also have a petty crimes officer, a felonious assault officer, and so on? Either way this looks very Orwellian for the UK.

England had a real problem with violent and dangerous football “hooligans” which prompted a football unit within the police force.

 

[KeepTalking]

I'm not sure this is really anything new in the UK. Their right to free speech is not one we would recognize in the States. I did find the following bit interesting:

"Silwood was charged following an investigation carried out by Britain’s first dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit."

They have a hate crime officer in a football team? Do they also have a petty crimes officer, a felonious assault officer, and so on? Either way this looks very Orwellian for the UK.

England had a real problem with violent and dangerous football “hooligans” which prompted a football unit within the police force.

Thanks for the info, I knew about the hooligans, but not the football unit. It also seems that I misread the article as saying that they had imbedded the officers in the teams, which was not the correct interpretation. Seems a bit less Orwellian now that I am reading it correctly. I still do not agree with free speech laws in the UK, but at least it's better there than much of the rest of the world.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

https://apnews.com/article/soccer-s...social-media-027ac1d4e6f47375a0983d3358566f6b

“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ”

I'm not sure this is really anything new in the UK. Their right to free speech is not one we would recognize in the States. I did find the following bit interesting:

"Silwood was charged following an investigation carried out by Britain’s first dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit."

They have a hate crime officer in a football team? Do they also have a petty crimes officer, a felonious assault officer, and so on? Either way this looks very Orwellian for the UK.

With the rise of racist actions involving sports and England's well known problems of football hooliganism I would expect that England has had some police resources dedicated to dealing with such things for quite some time.

 

[SLD]

https://apnews.com/article/soccer-s...social-media-027ac1d4e6f47375a0983d3358566f6b

“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ”

I'm not sure this is really anything new in the UK. Their right to free speech is not one we would recognize in the States. I did find the following bit interesting:

"Silwood was charged following an investigation carried out by Britain’s first dedicated hate crime officer within a football unit."

They have a hate crime officer in a football team? Do they also have a petty crimes officer, a felonious assault officer, and so on? Either way this looks very Orwellian for the UK.

With the rise of racist actions involving sports and England's well known problems of football hooliganism I would expect that England has had some police resources dedicated to dealing with such things for quite some time.

Wow. This a stunning case. I thought England guaranteed free speech. I can see the club banning him from games, that’s a private matter. But jail time for posting hateful speech? That’s not right. They can monitor him to see if he would do something potentially violent, but unless he does some affirmative action to commit an offense, I fail to see any criminal action against him.

I wonder about the appeals.

ETA: there are indeed broad exceptions in England’s Human Rights Act. From Wikipedia:

However, there is a broad sweep of exceptions including threatening or abusive words or behaviour intending or likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress or cause a breach of the peace (which has been used to prohibit racist speech targeted at individuals),[2][3][4] sending another any article which is indecent or grossly offensive with an intent to cause distress or anxiety (which has been used to prohibit speech of a racist or anti-religious nature),[5][6][7] incitement,[8] incitement to racial hatred,[9] incitement to religious hatred, incitement to terrorism including encouragement of terrorism and dissemination of terrorist publications,[8][10][11] glorifying terrorism,[12][13] collection or possession of a document or record containing information likely to be of use to a terrorist,[14][15] treason including advocating for the abolition of the monarchy or compassing or imagining the death of the monarch,[16][17][18][19][20] sedition,[17] obscenity,[21] indecency including corruption of public morals and outraging public decency,[22] defamation,[23] prior restraint, restrictions on court reporting including names of victims and evidence and prejudicing or interfering with court proceedings,[24][25] prohibition of post-trial interviews with jurors,[25] time, manner, and place restrictions,[26] harassment, privileged communications, trade secrets, classified material, copyright, patents, military conduct, and limitations on commercial speech such as advertising.

You could drive a Mack truck through these exceptions. Sedition? Incitement to religious hatred? Half the posts on this board qualify for that!

 

[OLDMAN]

Has anyone checked to see if auto-correct changes buffoon into baboon?

 

[thebeave]

Has anyone checked to see if auto-correct changes buffoon into baboon?

I wondered the same thing. Seems like it would have been an easy and sensible thing to check.

 

[Bomb#20]

You could drive a Mack truck through these exceptions. Sedition? Incitement to religious hatred? Half the posts on this board qualify for that!

The folks who wrote the Bill of Rights weren't philosophers. It's pretty much just a laundry list of abuses the British government had been in the habit of committing.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Has anyone checked to see if auto-correct changes buffoon into baboon?

Not so easy to check--not every system will behave the same.

Data point: Samsung Galaxy S10+: e-mail: "The buffoon was in the forest." Received intact even with the context clue.

 

[Metaphor]

Has anyone checked to see if auto-correct changes buffoon into baboon?

Whether it does or not, it seems to me that nothing should turn on the fact. People don't belong in jail for calling other people baboons.

 

[none]

Has anyone checked to see if auto-correct changes buffoon into baboon?

Whether it does or not, it seems to me that nothing should turn on the fact. People don't belong in jail for calling other people baboons.

Football? They fucked that word up too. And jailing? Hmm... seems like a better path to society.
I mean let's run this pipe through this suburban neighborhood and all these people say no so it gets redirected, push a little farther and heck let's fucking shoot these people because it's fucking wilderness "fuck you get out of the way"
But yeah the colony they built over there was well... people. Not baboons I guess.

 

[Bomb#20]

Not so easy to check--not every system will behave the same.

Data point: Samsung Galaxy S10+: e-mail: "The buffoon was in the forest." Received intact even with the context clue.

Intact isn't the issue -- what you need to check is misspellings of buffoon. My cell phone didn't turn anything into baboon, but it had some pretty creative ideas. Bacon, beckon, boon, bunion...