# General > General >  The Tom Daley tweet!

## Corrie 3

I don't use Twitter and going by the number of arrests of people using it I don't think I ever will!
But what has amazed me is someone send's and "offensive" tweet to someone who is in the news at the time or some second rate Superstar,Footballer etc and they get arrested.  How many offensive tweets, post's, messages are sent everyday by and to ordinary people and yet you never hear of anyone getting arrested?  Is Twitter something for the "Upper Crust" to enjoy and if any of the "Lower Crust" dare send anything offensive the "Upper Crust" can go running to the Internet police? I don't understand it, probably because I dont use Twitter but what I would like to ask, if someone posts something "offensive" on the .Org, can we expect the police to get involved in the future?


C3........ ::

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## Rheghead

I think the police have already been involved with offensive comments or real/veiled threats on the Org.

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## Corrie 3

> I think the police have already been involved with offensive comments or real/veiled threats on the Org.


I didn't know that Rheg, how long ago was that?

C3............ ::

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## Gizmo

> I don't use Twitter and going by the number of arrests of people using it I don't think I ever will!
> But what has amazed me is someone send's and "offensive" tweet to someone who is in the news at the time or some second rate Superstar,Footballer etc and they get arrested.  How many offensive tweets, post's, messages are sent everyday by and to ordinary people and yet you never hear of anyone getting arrested?  Is Twitter something for the "Upper Crust" to enjoy and if any of the "Lower Crust" dare send anything offensive the "Upper Crust" can go running to the Internet police? I don't understand it, probably because I dont use Twitter but what I would like to ask, if someone posts something "offensive" on the .Org, can we expect the police to get involved in the future?
> 
> 
> C3........


Offensive online comments, that may be breaking a law, which are made to "normal" people don't tend to get reported to the police for investigation, that's why.

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## RecQuery

It takes a special (as in firetruck, potatoe) type of uptight person to be offended by something someone said online. I urge these people never to go near some parts of Reddit, 4chan or /b/ lest they die of shock.

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## Rheghead

It was a bit ago and I don't know all the facts so I will not expand on the matter.  But the Daley tweet incident is a sad indictment of our society, suffice to say that if a person can say something offensive or threatening then it is most probably best not to say it because they are just letting themselves down.

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## Corrie 3

> Offensive online comments, that may be breaking a law, which are made to "normal" people don't tend to get reported to the police for investigation, that's why.


I thought that might be the case Gizmo, but where do you draw the line on "Malicious Communications"? Apparently, this Lad in Weymouth Tweeted Daley and said he had let his Dad down (who died of Cancer a while ago). Now to me, that is only the Lads thoughts, I would call it nasty because of Daley's Dad dying but Malicious?  When do know if you have gone over the line from Nasty to Malicious?  One Man's malicious will be another Man's nasty! It's a hard one to Police but I hope it's not one rule for the well known and one for the ordinary man in the street!

C3........... ::

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## Gizmo

> I thought that might be the case Gizmo, but where do you draw the line on "Malicious Communications"? Apparently, this Lad in Weymouth Tweeted Daley and said he had let his Dad down (who died of Cancer a while ago). Now to me, that is only the Lads thoughts, I would call it nasty because of Daley's Dad dying but Malicious?  When do know if you have gone over the line from Nasty to Malicious?  One Man's malicious will be another Man's nasty! It's a hard one to Police but I hope it's not one rule for the well known and one for the ordinary man in the street!
> 
> C3...........


It's a complete waste of Police time. The tweeter made a stupid and uncalled for comment, and later apologised for it. It's absolutely ridiculous that the police are involved in such a trivial thing, but like everything else in this wretched country of ours, something trivial is always sensationalised to the max. The Daily Mail must be having a field day with this.

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## Rheghead

> I thought that might be the case Gizmo, but where do you draw the line on "Malicious Communications"?


If the message was sent to cause distress or anxiety then it is an offence.

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## Corrie 3

> If the message was sent to cause distress or anxiety then it is an offence.


If that is the case then half the Members on here (including myself) should be behind bars by now Rheg!!!!
If I say to you..."Rheg, you are so ugly" and it causes you distress then I get took to court?  If that is the case then I think we have to be very, very careful of what we post on the Forum!
(ps, I dont think you are ugly Rheg really, I just used it as an example.) In fact, going by your Avatar you are quite handsome!!

C3.................... :Wink:

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## squidge

I am with gizmo on this.  The only sorts of tweets that should even be of any interest to the police are those which seriously threaten criminal activity or where they are part of a sustained campaign of intimidation. Its mad that a tweet which says "you let your dad down" is subject either of a complaint to the police or of any sort of investigation. There was the case last week where a man had sent a tweet in which he suggested that he would like to blow up an airport.  From the start the security experts didnt view it as a credible threat and yet the police charged the man and he was convicted. It had to get to the high court for common sense to prevail and the judges said it was quite clearly a joke. Its just madness that people are so over sensitive to online remarks.

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## theone

It's all gone too far.

Direct threats should be investigated, fair enough, but we're getting to the point where people are losing their right to free speech.

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## equusdriving

> I don't use Twitter and going by the number of arrests of people using it I don't think I ever will!
> But what has amazed me is someone send's and "offensive" tweet to someone who is in the news at the time or some second rate Superstar,Footballer etc and they get arrested.  How many offensive tweets, post's, messages are sent everyday by and to ordinary people and yet you never hear of anyone getting arrested?  Is Twitter something for the "Upper Crust" to enjoy and if any of the "Lower Crust" dare send anything offensive the "Upper Crust" can go running to the Internet police? I don't understand it, probably because I dont use Twitter but what I would like to ask, if someone posts something "offensive" on the .Org, can we expect the police to get involved in the future?
> 
> 
> C3........


getting worried about some of your Racist comments by any chance?

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## Corrie 3

*This message is hidden because equusdriving is on your ignore list*I wish I had found this ignore facility a long while ago, it's brilliant!!

C3............... ::  ::

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## picturegifts

> "..There was the case last week where a man had sent a tweet in which he suggested that he would like to blow up an airport.  From the start the security experts didnt view it as a credible threat and yet the police charged the man and he was convicted. It had to get to the high court for common sense to prevail and the judges said it was quite clearly a joke. Its just madness that people are so over sensitive to online remarks.


Would this matter have been dealt with so quickly if the person who made the post was a Muslim,  or any other member of an organisation which the Government deems to be "threats to national security"? I think not.

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## equusdriving

> *This message is hidden because equusdriving is on your ignore list*I wish I had found this ignore facility a long while ago, it's brilliant!!
> 
> C3...............


I dont think its that effective though, you used it yesterday but a few minutes later, read my post and replied to me??? are you sure you are using it right?

There's no fool like an Old fool

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## starfish

is corrie 3 and equusdriving having another lovers tiff ha ha. Think they should get a room

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## ywindythesecond

> If the message was sent to cause distress or anxiety then it is an offence.


I find myself on Reggy's side on this one.  There has to be commonsense applied but is it really freedom of speech to be allowed to cause gratuitous offense?  Individual incidents might seem trivial in themselves, but how many incidents does it take before the lack of regulation leads to acceptance of unacceptable behaviour? 
I have never been "happy-slapped" but I imagine receiving a message such as Daley received must have felt like that. Both are assaults on the person and both are against the law.

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## RecQuery

> It's all gone too far.
> 
> Direct threats should be investigated, fair enough, but we're getting to the point where people are losing their right to free speech.


But won't someone please think of the children... and the soldiers... and society... and the monarchy... and immigrants. Oh screw it I have no idea how to act morally indignant like tabloid readers. Beyond a direct and _credible_ threat I don't see what the big deal is.

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## theone

> But won't someone please think of the children... and the soldiers... and society... and the monarchy... and immigrants. Oh screw it I have no idea how to act morally indignant like tabloid readers. Beyond a direct and _credible_ threat I don't see what the big deal is.


Exactly my point.

Watch BBC Parliament and you'll see our leaders throw insults (that may be offensive) left, right and centre.

My doctor told me I was overweight. It caused anxiety and it hurt................. lock him up.

Sticks and stones and all that. Unless you're breaching the peace, or seriously threatening, I don't believe you're doing anything wrong.

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## squidge

My Doctor tells me that too theone - however such is life.  ywindy asks is it freedom of speech to be able to cause gratuitous offence.  Actually yes it is - unless someone is breaking the LAW - threatenting violence or criminal activity, making racist remarks or carrying out a sustained campaign of harrassment then yes, you are allowed to cause gratuitous offence. I dont agree that we should clamp down on stupid rude remarks just in case it gets out of hand - that wouild lead to the sort of country I dont want to live in where you have to be careful of what you say or dont say....  Dont sing the National Anthem?  Throw you in jail.... Say someone is a fat ugly cow? Throw you in jail....  

If you are in the public arena whether as sports personality or as other celebrities then you have to expect the good and the bad.  You dont need to expect to be threatened or terrified but you must expect some people will like and dislike you and voice those opinions.  Many actors and musicians dont read critical reviews cos they hurt - if twitter hurts your feelings then dont use it.  

It does appear that it wasnt Tom Daley that complained to the police but a "concerned member of the public" so Tom probably has thicker skin that I am maybe giveing him credit for. I cant understand why someone woud complain to the police on behalf of a celebrity they dont know.....mad.

Edit - Just linked to this off facebook - I know I know its the Daily  wail but this is the way to deal with cyber bullies and trolls http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...ction_ref_map=[]  Good luck to the lassie - we need more strong minded confident and articulate young women who know how to stand up for themselves.  Like it!!!!

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## Rheghead

> Its just madness that people are so over sensitive to online remarks.


I'm taking the long view on this one.  You may want to trivialize the impact of an offensive remark online but as technology matures then more of our lives will be put online.  Facebook and Twitter is just the start.  

In time there will be no distinction between our lives in the real world and that of the virtual so an insult online is the same as that as in your face.  So the law needs to be in place to cope with this if we want to avoid a _Wild West Web_ and eventually a Wild West Life.  This phenomenon is called the Singularity and it is coming soon.

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## theone

> I'm taking the long view on this one.  You may want to trivialize the impact of an offensive remark online but as technology matures then more of our lives will be put online.  Facebook and Twitter is just the start.  
> 
> In time there will be no distinction between our lives in the real world and that of the virtual so an insult online is the same as that as in your face.  So the law needs to be in place to cope with this if we want to avoid a _Wild West Web_.  This phenomenon is called the Singularity and it is coming soon.


I understand what you're saying, but the 'tweet' as I understand it was:

"You let your Dad down, I hope you know that".

Distasteful for anyone who lost their father recently, but lets be honest, if he'd said that in a pub, or in the street, would he have been arrested?

I just can't see the crime.

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## Rheghead

I believe there was a bit more than that one tweet.

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## theone

> I believe there was a bit more than that one tweet.


I have no idea about that, I only read the report of what the 17 year old who was arrested tweeted.

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## Rheghead

We are both judging it through the unreliable prism of the media but I seem to remember that there was 3 tweets, the original Dad one, a half-hearted apology tweet and a veiled threat of violence tweet.

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## squidge

so how do you sort it Rheghead - anyone who makes an offensive remark is arrested just in case it turns out to be more than that?  Its all a lot big brother

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## Rheghead

> so how do you sort it Rheghead - anyone who makes an offensive remark is arrested just in case it turns out to be more than that?  Its all a lot big brother


It will get sorted by the same forces that sort confrontations in real life eg  peer pressure, discretion, shame and public condemnation out of their sense of decency etc etc and all backed up by positive steps to punish by the law if it gets out of hand.

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## Corrie 3

And another case today, an e-mail from a member of the public to an MP. He calls him a "Mammies Boy" and hopes that the IRA will bomb their next conference.  I dont think Mammies Boy is really offensive is it? And wishing the IRA would bomb their conference is just that....a wish!!!!

I wonder if we are going to see cases like this on a daily basis from now on?    How many real crimes are going unsolved while the police spend time on silly stuff like this?

Big Brother and Nanny State springs to mind....      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19075186

C3.................... ::

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## Rheghead

> And another case today, an e-mail from a member of the public to an MP. He calls him a "Mammies Boy" and hopes that the IRA will bomb their next conference.  I dont think Mammies Boy is really offensive is it? *And wishing the IRA would bomb their conference is just that....a wish!!!!*


Well if you want to take that logic a bit further then the influential Imams that have spilled out hate and called for Muslims rise up and kill infidels is just that a wish as well.

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## Corrie 3

> Well if you want to take that logic a bit further then the influential Imams that have spilled out hate and called for Muslims rise up and kill infidels is just that a wish as well.


I think there is a big difference Rheg between wishing and actually planning to do something like bombing! If he had wrote that he was going to bomb the next conference then fair enough but just to wish it??????

C3................ ::

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## ducati

The whole cyber communications thing has got out of hand. Some people seem to think that they can just say anything and it doesn't matter because there is no immediate comeback. Think abouit what you say. If in a pub it would get your lights punched out or your head kicked in, don't say it.

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## Gizmo

> Edit - Just linked to this off facebook - I know I know its the Daily  wail but this is the way to deal with cyber bullies and trolls http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...ction_ref_map=[]  Good luck to the lassie - we need more strong minded confident and articulate young women who know how to stand up for themselves.  Like it!!!!


Can't see what the trolls have to bitch about, she's a very pretty girl, and there's nothing overly butch about her physique either. She's certainly a lot more attractive than the obese tarted-up dayglow orange trollops that spend the weekend rolling around the gutters of our towns and cities. Good to see she's not letting the vermin bother her.

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## Corrie 3

I see there has been another arrest today after someone else Twitted Tom Daley.   
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19095923

But what is more worrying is when someone closes their Twitter account because they cant take negative comments and it makes the BBC news website.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/19092545

Whatever next?  Headline news when someone closes their account at Caithness.Org?

The world has gone mad!!!!

C3.............. ::  ::

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## equusdriving

> Whatever next?  Headline news when someone closes their account at Caithness.Org?
> C3..............


I agree totally and think you should investigate this further by closing your account and seeing if it makes the news

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## ducati

Didn't it make e groat when you two where suspended? ::

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## equusdriving

> Didn't it make e groat when you two where suspended?


oh damn I must have missed that edition, anyone still got a copy?  ::

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## Phill

Rumour was that it was all covered up by one of them super injunctions, all hush hush 'cept fer in the House of Commies, everyone woz talkin bout it in there.

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## Rheghead

> I see there has been another arrest today after someone else Twitted Tom Daley.   
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19095923
> 
> But what is more worrying is when someone closes their Twitter account because they cant take negative comments and it makes the BBC news website.
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/19092545
> 
> Whatever next?  Headline news when someone closes their account at Caithness.Org?
> 
> The world has gone mad!!!!
> ...


So the internet will have to remain the domain of just the thick-skinned?  Nobody else?

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## Corrie 3

> So the internet will have to remain the domain of just the thick-skinned?  Nobody else?


Not sure what you mean Rheg........The point I was making is someone closes their Twitter account and it makes the news?  Surely someone closing an account isn't newsworthy?

C3.............. :Confused: eek:

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