Posts tagged free speech

Twitter retribution for sexual assault


A 17-year-old Kentucky girl who was upset by the plea deal reached by a pair of teenagers who sexually assaulted her is now facing a contempt charge for tweeting their names in violation of a court order.

As regular readers may be aware, i am something of a stickler for legal process, leading me, at times, to take positions that a seriously unpopular on major cases – particular those involving (sexual) violence. Becaused much of the time, i believe the law gets things more or less right – and i’m not too keen on those of us distant from the process re-hashing cases with a fraction of the information available in court.

But not here. Not this time. Because when it comes to this all-too-common sort of juvenile nastiness, the rights of the victim seem increasingly to take second place to those of the perpetrator. Read the rest of this entry »

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Free speech: who are the real bullies?

Free speech, it seems, is in the news again, what with section 5 of the 1986 public order Act being vigorously debated, and Archbishop Cranmer back in the news for allegedly disturbing the peace over at the Advertising Standards Authority.

Paddy Power, too: according to various pundits it has been forced to remove its “Ladies’ Day” ad from the airwaves because it “gave offense” to the trans community. Some are sticking up for the law here. Others, including Peter Tatchell, are not so sure.

Personally, as on a range of issues, I’m with Tatchell on this one. Read the rest of this entry »

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