Police arrest teenager over Tom Daley Twitter abuse

[rohrl]

Can anyone imagine what would happen if the Daily Mail and the police found 4chan? Their heads would explode and we'd have to moor prison hulks all around the coast with the amount of rude words people use there.

[maser_spyder]

What's been reported in the news was the thin end of this guy's tweets.

The stuff he said to Daley was nasty and pathetic, but some of his other, earlier tweets, and some of his subsequent follow-ups really were quite scary.

The 'death threat' posted a few pages ago was one of quite a few he made over the course of a few hours, and honestly, if you read through the whole lot (including some of the stuff that was deleted), you really would think this guy was seriously unhinged.

I watched this unfold on twitter last night, it was horrific. The guy is a total lunatic.

So, taken on it's own, yes, I agree it probably wasn't arrest-worthy. HOWEVER, if you actually take the time (or actually, don't, just take my word for it) to read some of his other tweets, you'll realise what all the fuss is about.

There was one last month that is clearly against the law, nothing to do with Daley, but clearly a race-hate crime.

The guy seriously deserves everything he gets. I'm honestly not surprised Daley reacted in the way he did. He's only 18 years-old FFS, cut him some slack, of course he's going to be sensitive about this sort of thing.

[NightRunner]

maser_spyder said:

What's been reported in the news was the thin end of this guy's tweets.

The stuff he said to Daley was nasty and pathetic, but some of his other, earlier tweets, and some of his subsequent follow-ups really were quite scary.

The 'death threat' posted a few pages ago was one of quite a few he made over the course of a few hours, and honestly, if you read through the whole lot (including some of the stuff that was deleted), you really would think this guy was seriously unhinged.

I watched this unfold on twitter last night, it was horrific. The guy is a total lunatic.

So, taken on it's own, yes, I agree it probably wasn't arrest-worthy. HOWEVER, if you actually take the time (or actually, don't, just take my word for it) to read some of his other tweets, you'll realise what all the fuss is about.

There was one last month that is clearly against the law, nothing to do with Daley, but clearly a race-hate crime.

The guy seriously deserves everything he gets. I'm honestly not surprised Daley reacted in the way he did. He's only 18 years-old FFS, cut him some slack, of course he's going to be sensitive about this sort of thing.

I saw some of the 'live' stuff last night - rather disturbing.

The main thing that shocked me was that within 5 mins his posts swang back and forth between:

'I'm sorry, I was just soo passionate'

to

'I'm going to drown you you '

back and forth.


I do note he was apparently arrested in a bedsit...

[burriana]

I did like the bit where he threatened to sue Sky News

[rohrl]

"Me belt's not even from fkin' Primark, it's from fkin' TJ Hughes" was very funny.

I don't know who TJ Hughes are but they need look no further for the face of their next ad campaign.

[hornet]

rohrl said:

Can anyone imagine what would happen if the Daily Mail and the police found 4chan? Their heads would explode and we'd have to moor prison hulks all around the coast with the amount of rude words people use there.

Makes this idiot's output look like Mumsnet!

[wiggy001]

mattnunn said:

wiggy001 said:

While the guy is obviously a cretin of the highest order, I don't like the idea of the police arresting people for making what are obviously childish statements and threats with no real plausibility.

The fact is, Daley has the option of blocking this guy which he may or may not have done. If he hasn't, then he has no reason to complain imho. If he has then he can simply ignore this guy's comments as he won't even see them unless he goes looking.

At school, these comments would have been ignored in the playground or a teacher would tell this idiot to grow up and, if it continued, take his priviledges away. The same level of response is appropriate here - ignore him and, if it continues, delete his account.

Twitter is the online equivalent of spoken word in my opinion and should be treated as such.

I once mistakenly went shopping in Asda and heard a mother shouting "Get back here you little , I'm gonna bloody kill you" at her teenage son. My first thought was not to call the police, or even that this was a real threat. Same here.

You're wrong.

Which of my statements above is wrong?

My first paragraph where I suggested the guy was a cretin?

The second where I said Daley could block this person?

The third where I said these comments (admittedly, the ones in the press, not the others that people have spoken about) would/should be ignored?

The fourth where I gave my opinion (please don't tell me my opinion is wrong... it can't be if I believe it to be right)

Or the last paragraph which, unless you were there and can prove me otherwise, most definitely did happen.

So no, nothing I said there was wrong.

mattnunn said:

Firstly twitter, facebook and the like are not equivalent to the spoken word, they are publishing, it's a permanant record available for all to see, secondly the reason libel and slander are disjointed in law is that the written word takes a greater amount of premeditation, i.e it is easier to loose ones temper and mouth off, the distance between brain and mouth being relatively small. The effort needed to publish the written word is higher and hence a greater availability of foresight and self control is expected.

Also blocking users in this new social media rarely helps due to the ease of which new identities and pseudonyms can be created, really no point in blocking a stalker or troll, you have to take them out.

If you can't see how different your example is to the case in question you need to think a bit harder, I would have thought excessive use of the C word in a public place is enough to get the police involved on a public order charge.

HTH

Available for all who choose to see. Daley has chosen to have an open profile and has to accept that from time to time an idiot will post something he might find offensive. No-one forces him to be on Twitter.

I agree that blocking such a user may not solve the problem, but it should be the first step.

So should I call the police every time I hear the C word? What about if someone shouts it at me whilst driving for example? What if they write it on a bit of paper and leave it on my windscreen?

As already said, there are a million and one things the police should be doing. Policing Twitter is not one of them in my opinion, but doesn't surprise me that they are doing this when "offended of middle england" has such a loud voice.

[Eric Mc]

I think the police should be dealing PRECISELY with this type of behaviour. I'm a firm believer in the "nipping in the bud" theory of law enforcement. Deterring a few thugs and weirdoes when they are young might just prevent them doing something far more disastrous later.

[Parabola]

He's been bailed and issued with a harrasment warning.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/31/teenag...

[Parabola]

Eric Mc said:

I think the police should be dealing PRECISELY with this type of behaviour. I'm a firm believer in the "nipping in the bud" theory of law enforcement. Deterring a few thugs and weirdoes when they are young might just prevent them doing something far more disastrous later.

Agreed. It's been mentioned on this thread before, but I'm glad the police had had the chance to try and assess if he's likely to turn out like the next Kieran Stapleton.

[roachcoach]

rohrl said:

Can anyone imagine what would happen if the Daily Mail and the police found 4chan? Their heads would explode and we'd have to moor prison hulks all around the coast with the amount of rude words people use there.

HAHAHAHAHA

So very true.


I've been online so long, I keep forgetting some people are new to it. Online abuse was the second thing on the internet, right after the porn.

[Eric Mc]

roachcoach said:

rohrl said:

Can anyone imagine what would happen if the Daily Mail and the police found 4chan? Their heads would explode and we'd have to moor prison hulks all around the coast with the amount of rude words people use there.

HAHAHAHAHA

So very true.


I've been online so long, I keep forgetting some people are new to it. Online abuse was the second thing on the internet, right after the porn.

And maybe it's time something was done about it. Just because bad behaviour has become the norm doesn't make it right.

[Marf]

Problem is how do you tackle it?

It'll be hosted somewhere which doesn't give two sh-ts about the content and if you block it you'll get the Streisand effect as with PirateBay.

[roachcoach]

Eric Mc said:

roachcoach said:

rohrl said:

Can anyone imagine what would happen if the Daily Mail and the police found 4chan? Their heads would explode and we'd have to moor prison hulks all around the coast with the amount of rude words people use there.

HAHAHAHAHA

So very true.


I've been online so long, I keep forgetting some people are new to it. Online abuse was the second thing on the internet, right after the porn.

And maybe it's time something was done about it. Just because bad behaviour has become the norm doesn't make it right.

And also to address Marf's post/question.

There's nothing material you can do about it. Except what you can do with everything else you find distasteful - ignore it. The odd guy swept up here & there is buttons. It'll make no difference.

Allow me to politically-godwin this here and now and use child porn as a reference point.

They can't stop child porn remotely effectively....that's something basically everyone agrees is bad and should be eliminated.

I wish them the very best of luck trying remove 'fk' from the internet

[Marf]

roachcoach said:

And also to address Marf's post/question.

There's nothing you can do about it. Except what you can do with everything else you find distasteful - ignore it.

Bingo. Any concerted effort to rid the net of 4chan would just see it disappear into the darknet like SilkRoad.

[iphonedyou]

Fittster said:

You want being disrespectful to be illegal?

To the extent the individual concerned has been? Absolutely, yes. I thought I'd made that so obvious as to negate the need for clarification, in fact.

Death threats, the particular thread made regarding the pregnant mother - no, it's not something I feel should go unpunished or undeterred. Absolutely not.

[Eric Mc]

roachcoach said:

And also to address Marf's post/question.

There's nothing material you can do about it. Except what you can do with everything else you find distasteful - ignore it. The odd guy swept up here & there is buttons. It'll make no difference.

Allow me to politically-godwin this here and now and use child porn as a reference point.

They can't stop child porn remotely effectively....that's something basically everyone agrees is bad and should be eliminated.

I wish them the very best of luck trying remove 'fk' from the internet

I think there was a bit more to this than just the odd bad swear word.

It's time for people to start behaving better. That's my new mantra -

"Be Nice - It's Good".

[rohrl]

Eric Mc said:

I think there was a bit more to this than just the odd bad swear word.

It's time for people to start behaving better. That's my new mantra -

"Be Nice - It's Good".

You know that you're not doing your "bad-boy of PH" image any good here Eric?

In fact you're a disgrace to the country and you've let your Dad down. Is that belt from Primark?

[roachcoach]

Eric Mc said:

I think there was a bit more to this than just the odd bad swear word.

It's time for people to start behaving better. That's my new mantra -

"Be Nice - It's Good".

Yes, but as posted previously, some of the stuff kicking around /b/ makes this fellow look like the queens speech writer.

I'm not saying it's right, but it just is and energy directed to changing that is likely better spent elsewhere.

[Eric Mc]

Just because something "is" does not mean that it has to remain so.