www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/21/facebo...s-mitchell-stancombe

Man jailed for 3 fucking years for saying on facebook 'When are we going to start the Southampton riots?'! No riots where incited by his comment nor was it meant seriously.

Their reasons for doing this....

I can't even begin to describe how fucking wound up I get about this shit and at this present moment in time, it's taking me all my energy to not go and deliberately push some buttons of my own on facewank.

Something needs to give and fast - or we're all fucked.

psketti wrote:
Amen Ra, sister!!

We're all already fucked, given the content of this particular website. I'll see you all on the other side...especially you, dubs.

Ab Origine wrote:
Fuck them... even though I have yet to find out how far that will actually transpire.

The part of me that lurks below the surface on a daily basis is the ONLY part of me that has any regret in my choice to be a parent. Make of that what you will.

I didn't mean to make light, it's just what I do. This is a very serious matter indeed, though, and I know it is one that is of particular interest to you, while the rest of the world seemingly just accepts it.

They can't bang all of us up though. That's really the only way around it, I reckon. All or nothing, innit?

Ab Origine wrote:


Sorry ab, I wasn't directing that at you lad... just to life in general. Didn't mean to be so brutally honest either, in hindsight.


Personally, I think our 'all or nothing' days have long since passed. It's gonna take nothing short of a fucking miracle to get out of what's currently happening so quickly around us. Wish I could be more upbeat about it but I can't.

The reality is, they're starting to imprison people for saying things. It's diabolical and can't be allowed to continue. it's ludicrous. And like you sketti, it's really starting to piss me off.

bugger!! if I had known they wanted someone to make an example of I would have screenied and sent in the rather similar things an ex had to say on his facebook.

It is wrong to say it was for just that sentence -
It is so easy for people to make remarks that they think are funny or flippant on the internet which are actually extremely offensive/derogatory/racist etc - and whilst personally I do not think that the guy should have been jailed - I have seen worse cases of incitement and racism on certain other websites that perhaps are not as popular as facebook - or people have not reported them to the police so they go unfettered.

I remember as a kid being taught that there are certain things you just do not say in public - either because it is impolite or it is offensive (an example being my calling the only black guy I knew as a very very small child golly - whilst he knew all I was doing was equating him with the only other 'black imagery' I was aware of - quite rightly my parents explained why it was offensive and I shouldnt call black people golly)

It would appear that people really did believe that talking on the internet would be like talking to a small group of friends or the equivalent of graffiti whereby they would either say what they liked as there were no prying eyes or they could say what they liked so long as their anonymity was protected.

The jail sentence given does not make me angry - though I do think that it was unfair and it is wrong to use someone as a 'deterrent' - I am sad though - sad I guess that the guy has had his life ruined by some offensive remarks and sad that people can talk about riots and killing other humans with such flippancy.

thoreau wrote:
I understand what you're saying thoreau but this is all spiralling out of control and I feel VERY fucking angry about it. More so than I expected myself to be if I'm honest. This has got to stop. A flippant comment should be exactly that and taken as such. What the fuck is going on before being jailed for something so fucking trivial has become acceptable?

I am so pissed off at the moment. Not at you girl incase you think the same as ab... it's not intended if that's how it comes across.

I feel very strongely about these things and I'm fucking scared for our kids. What are we setting them up for?

No disrespect to anyone but the stronger one feels about something, the more energy one has to try and do something about it

psketti wrote:
No worries sketts different things affect us all in different ways Like I said I don't think he or anyone should be jailed for being flippant - mebbie we are just putting more emphasis on different aspects on how this all affects us - its good that people like you get angry - I get the feeling that the anger is motivational for you as opposed to something you will let just weigh you down and turn negative - a different injustice will no doubt spur me on in a similar way - just means there are enough of us to fight different corners that all go towards postive change

Sometimes I wonder if these things are staged to test public reaction. Like does anyone actually know this guy in person?

apsara wrote:
I don't know him. My reaction however is very real as is my anger and passion.

How long is it before the majority of ourselves here are locked up for saying something the state disagrees with? At the rate things are going, not very.

All the latest measures they've changed, ie, new powers to snoop on every aspect of our digital lives, are all heading in the same direction and it's one that I will lose much sleep over. It's also one I'll likely end up in the shit over at some point in the near future, due to how strongely I feel.

Rulers have always imprisoned or executed people for simply saying things.
Its nothing new at all.

andyh wrote:


That's neither here nor there andy.

What's happening around us now, is going way beyond that.

psketti wrote:

Its all about perception tbh.
In the past it was far more prevalent as there was no media to report it.

andyh wrote:
That's not the case, there are more people being disappeared now than ever before, mostly because of electronic communications and a ubiquitous surveillance state.
Just because occasionally a case makes it into the papers doesn't mean the media reports this stuff.

How many BP and 911 whistleblowers have died in suspicious circumstances now?
Has that ever been mentioned in the mainstream media?

I'm with Psketti on this.

How long until they start banging up people like us just for saying what we think on forums like this one?

Not long the way things are going.

andyh wrote:
I have to disagree with that too andy. The control measures being implemented on us on an almost daily basis are happening at a frightening rate to silence the voices that speak out. If we lose the ability to question the motives of the people who 'control' us, what will become of us?

A sick bastard who runs an oil company was recently found to have over 5000 images of children on his PC and he was let off scot free because he helped the police with enquiries. This young lad made a stupid comment on a socialising website to his mates and got 3 years. Do you think he was given that sentence because of what he said or because of the possible trouble he may have incited to the state? We all know what the answer is.

I'll say it again, something has to give and real quickly.

Just heard this on a video feather linked in another thread and it fits in appropriately here.

psketti wrote:
The control measures you speak of have always been implemented and enforced by ourselves on each other.
Its only in the 60's/70's for example that homosexuality became legal.
Its not much further back that slavery was made illegal.
Commoners would frequently find their heads swiftly detatched from their bodies not much further back than that for simply not paying taxes.
They very often couldn't read, let alone have a newspaper or the internet.

It always always always involved some people following authority for it to happen and it always always needed ignorance for it to continue.
Technology has not really changed anything at the core of the human being, we are still the immature beings we always were.
It is this immaturity we need to overcome.