A TEENAGER who posted a death threat on Facebook has become the first person in Britain to be jailed for bullying on a social networking site.
It appears that Keeley Houghton is a bully in real life, and has been bullying one Emily Moore for a few years. In fact, this is her third conviction. She recently reified this behavior on her facebook account and that seems to have been the evidence that put this behavior over the top in this latest round, in the eyes of British Law.
This is not too surprising … that there are teenage bullies and that they do stoopid-shit ™ on the Internet.
What this does demonstrate is that in at least one legal system there may be no special lenience for being an asshole on the internet as opposed to in real life. This case is complicated because the perpetrator was an asshole in both contexts.
Have you read the breakthrough novel of the year? When you are done with that, try:
or Paperback
*Please note:
Links to books and other items on this page and elsewhere on Greg Ladens' blog may send you to Amazon, where I am a registered affiliate. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, which helps to fund this site.
The English/Welsh legal system (Scotland has its own legal system; there is no such thing as British law) has many, many faults, but the courts do have more freedom than US courts to actually engage their brains, where US courts seem to get tangled up in arguing about bits of paper, precedents, forms of words, semantics, etc. English courts are more inclined to say “no, that’s rubbish, this is the interpretation that makes sense”.
I think there is a special kind of troll. The uktroll. This is a troll that looks for use of “england” or “british” or anything related then swoops in with a correction in reference to the esoteria the rest of us call “The Brits” but otherwise makes no describable contribution to the discussion.
…and precisely what kind of contribution did *you* just make to the discussion, Travis, with that gratuitous and unjustified little outburst of snark?
Sam C is right about the flexibility in interpretation that is available to courts in Britain (note careful phrasing) – partly the result of not having a written constitution, perhaps. Latitude in sentencing is also available: clearly the court felt custody would send the right message about this kind of behaviour – that’s it’s as unacceptable on the internet as it is anywhere else.
Sam, while I appreciate common sense trumping form, isn’t that aspect of English law what got Simon Singh in trouble? Specifically, Judge Eady’s proclamation that he knew best what ‘bogus’ meant, despite what Singh actually wrote and clearly meant, and ruled accordingly.
Granted, English libel law is completely retarded, not recognizing truth as an absolute defense and putting the burden to prove a negative on the defendant. The ability for judges to go off-script is a double-edged sword. Good that the bully’s been put away though.
that’s it’s as unacceptable on the internet as it is anywhere else.
That is, of course, the key point and why I posted this. (Although we don’t know what the ENglish/Whatever courts were necessarily thinking without reading the source documents).
I do appreciate Travis’ point … I like the Uk-troll idea. The use of adjectives is widespread in … language. I said “british” because it was british and I’m sticking to my story. Next time someone says “You Americans are this, You Americans are that” I’ll refrain from correcting them about this incorrect use of the word “American.” After all, we citizens of the US (as opposed to the other “American” countries) are more laid back about this sort of thing. Also, The British must take responsibility for coming up with a system that is absurd and hard to learn, and The British must stop insisting that everyone else make up for their strangeness. Don’t you think?
And when I say “The British” … well, you know what I mean.
Dude, this has nothing whatsoever to do with “being an asshole on the Internet”. The dumbfuck made a DEATH THREAT. This is feeble even for you.
CPP: In what way is making a death thread not being an asshole?
Dude, do you truly not understand something so absurdly simple, or are you being intentionally misleading?
CPP: Huh?
If you rephrase that question so it makes some sense, and ask it with a modicum of respect, I’ll do my best to answer it. At the moment all I’m seeing is shit flying from your general direction. I can only guess at what you are getting at and I have more useful pursuits to engage in. Like, I’ve got to go buy some leeches and angle worms just now.
You going fishing? I have heard there are some nice lakes where you live.
That’s better. Yes, I’m going fishing. Thanks for asking. Yes, we have some nice lakes, if you’re ever in the area, I’ll bring you up to ours. We have good walleye fishing and the best collection of Scotch this side of the Mississippi (and if you know the geography of the region, that’s a pretty funny joke)
You know, CPP, sometimes I have to agree with you, but at other times I just have to say WTF?!?!!?
People who make death threats using the Internet are part of a subset of people who are assholes on the Internet. Just because you’re an asshole on-line does not mean you make death threats on-line. Really simple to understand, no?
Dude, you own your own motherfucking lake?
Dude, you own your own motherfucking lake?
We have very close personal relationships with our lakes in Minnesota. Thus the possessive pronoun. My spouse, my mother, my goldfish, my lake, etc.
I see. So is my image of you angrily brandishing a shotgun at trespassing fishermen realistic?
No comment. Just stay off my fucking lawn.
How did a simple conversation regarding the DISGUSTING e-Bullying turn into a slagging match about a lake?
Young offenders institute? Why? She is 18 – send her into a proper prison. She’ll soon discover how it feels to be on the other end of a bully.