Police arrest teenager over Tom Daley Twitter abuse

[Use Psychology]

robmlufc said:

Someone 'threatened' on Twitter to blow up an airport but that was ok!

no they didn't, they made a an exaggerated statement for comic effect and the police, airport, cps, etc. overreacted massively.

[emicen]

stevejh said:

If a stranger rang you on the phone every few minutes threatening and hurling abuse at you would you expect something to be done about it?

If a stranger sent you letters containing abuse and death threats would you expect something to be done about it?

If a stranger stood outside your home shouting threats and abuse at you would you expect something to be done about it?

I suspect the vast majority of people would look at these three scenarios and say that they would expect, if they reported it to the police, that something would be done so what's the difference with Twitter?

I'm not anti Twitter, I think it can be a very useful and fun resource but it does give people the opportunity to type things which they would probably never say out loud and then for those things to be seen by countless people. As long as there are no consequences then there are people who will just keep pushing the boundaries. By all means highlight peoples failings, disagree with them and/or question their views but there is no need to be abusive or threatening.

Royally missing the point tbh.

This isn't the same as any of those scenarios because the people in those instances were not invited to do so.

This character has over stepped the mark, of that there is no doubt, but the notion that celebs can use social media to essentially be attention seeking wes (as they would be branded on any forum) and ONLY see comments from people sucking their starfish is just absurd.

But, there is a big difference between telling someone they sucked and issuing death threats.

[rohrl]

[quote=elster]There is also this he said
http://thumbsnap.com/sc/68fRPMPl.png

Not to Daley, that's some ongoing spat with another brain donor who accused idiot-boy of wearing a belt from Primark. (Seriously).

Edited by Justayellowbadge on Tuesday 31st July 11:22

[Puggit]

rohrl said:

elster said:

There is also this he said

http://thumbsnap.com/sc/68fRPMPl.png

Not to Daley, that's some ongoing spat with another brain donor who accused idiot-boy of wearing a belt from Primark. (Seriously).

Yes, but this is what he's being arrested for. Obviously the media are hyping up the Daley link - but that's just what got him noticed.

Edited by Justayellowbadge on Tuesday 31st July 11:22

[schmalex]

Surely, anyone with half a brain realises that you shouldn't type on the internet that which you wouldn't say to someone's face.

It appears to me that the perceived anonymity associated with the internet allows people to think that they can get away with an awful lot more than they really can.

ETA, I read through that kid's twitter feed last night and he was writing some truly vile stuff. IMO, the police did exactly the right thing.

[P-Jay]

Parabola said:

Did you also threaten to murder his unborn child?

I didn't say anything other than "Ok, sorry Sir" in a really throw-away way, but I was also a bit of a dhead as a teenager.

To be completely honest the only tweet I'd heard about on the news was the "you've let your Dad down" or words to that effect, it seems the story has moved on and the dhead has sent a string of abusive and threatening tweets to him.

Of course TD could have blocked the dhead after the first one and none of this would have happened, and of course the likelihood is, if this dhead had abused someone outside of the public eye, or, as in most cases they'd just blocked him and moved on we wouldn't have heard anything about it and neither would have the Police...

But it does seem the knob has gone too far.

[Dixie68]

Fittster said:

Because I want to know what crime he's been arrested for. Simple enough question.

Do you know the answer?

Threatening behaviour or something similar? I don't know why people are surprised he was arrested, AFAIK even if you just get a caution they first have to arrest you, it doesn't mean he'll be spending time in chokey. When I was a kid I was arrested and cautioned for threatening behaviour even though I was told it came down to "his word against yours". This prize plum has left no doubt about his threat.

[FurtiveFreddy]

Celebs and sportspeople need to learn they are best off not reading the papers and social media when they should be concentrating on their performance.

The next thing we're going to get is our athletes blaming Twitter for not winning a medal.

[anonymous-user]

So some bellend makes empty, macho threats on ttter and get arrested, Lithuanian "fan" at the basketball repeatedly makes a Nazi salute directed at two black stewards, with police watching, and he doesn't even get a ticking off.

Interesting.

[Parabola]

FurtiveFreddy said:

The next thing we're going to get is our athletes blaming Twitter for not winning a medal.

Already happening!

http://m.smh.com.au/olympics/swimming-london-2012/...

[Halb]

joe_90 said:

I would assume the 'Death threat' didn't help his case:

I hope somebody tweeted 'you're' to him.

[johnfm]

Fittster said:

johnfm said:

Why the quotes?

Because I want to know what crime he's been arrested for. Simple enough question.

Do you know the answer?

Offences relating to Communications Act 1988 I expect.

[robmlufc]

I guess all the people who threatened him will also be arrested? no?

[don4l]

I'm not at all surprised that he has been arrested. The racist stuff was pretty vile. Furthermore, the porn link on his profile looks dodgy.


The legal system is not keeping up with the technology. I fear that a whole generation of boys have had their heads screwed up by free access to extreme porn.

Don
--

[Gogoplata]

The old saying "Sticks & stones may break my bones but words will never harm me" obviously isn't well known these days. Every week there seems to be a celebrity story about "trolls" posting nasty things about them, I guess it keeps them in the public eye.

People need to man up these days imo.

[robmlufc]

don4l said:

I'm not at all surprised that he has been arrested. The racist stuff was pretty vile. Furthermore, the porn link on his profile looks dodgy.


The legal system is not keeping up with the technology. I fear that a whole generation of boys have had their heads screwed up by free access to extreme porn.

Don
--

Pornhub is extreme porn? really? There was more extreme vhs videos floating about back in the day at school.

[Parabola]

Gogoplata said:

People need to man up these days imo.

If your daughter was upset about someone on Twitter threatening to rape and kill her, you'd honestly just tell her to 'Man up'?

[Eric Mc]

Gogoplata said:

The old saying "Sticks & stones may break my bones but words will never harm me" obviously isn't well known these days. Every week there seems to be a celebrity story about "trolls" posting nasty things about them, I guess it keeps them in the public eye.

People need to man up these days imo.

Hold on a second, what do you mean "these days". These internet fora are a fairly recent phenomenon. In the pre-Internet era, if a media organ (newspaper, magazine, TV, radio etc) carried a defamaotory or libelous article aimed at someone in the public eye they would pretty soon find themselves in big legal trouble.

Why should some moron on a public forum (which is just another new form of media outlet) be somehow immune from the same strictures that limit what a professional journalist writes or says?

In my opinion, forum posters, Twitter and Facebook commenters and bloggers are just as responsible for what they write as someone working for The Times or the The Telegraph. In some cases, they might even have a bigger readership.

[Gogoplata]

Eric Mc said:

Hold on a second, what do you mean "these days". These internet fora are a fairly recent phenomenon. In the pre-Internet era, if a media organ (newspaper, magazine, TV, radio etc) carried a defamaotory or libelous article aimed at someone in the public eye they would pretty soon find themselves in big legal trouble.

Why should some moron on a public forum (which is just another new form of media outlet) be somehow immune from the same strictures that limit what a professional journalist writes or says?

In my opinion, forum posters, Twitter and Facebook commenters and bloggers are just as responsible for what they write as someone working for The Times or the The Telegraph. In some cases, they might even have a bigger readership.

I see your point, but I think that a media organ making defamatory/libellous comments is different due to them being an influential outlet that sways public opinion as opposed to some random guy who nobody has heard of or cares about.

Personally I don't "Tweet" so this could be lost on me. But I’ve never felt the need to get all upset or call the police when threatened on the internet. <Obligatory powerfully built Director comment>

I’m by no means defending what the guy said, but where do you draw the line?

[Gogoplata]

Having said that, Tom Dalay is representing his country at the highest level, he just ask this joker what he has done with his life and tell him to STFU.