Its a fine line isn't it:
On one hand accusing someone of being a nonce can be mud that sticks.
Alternatively, as someone put on here a while ago is it a good use of police resources investigating someone for being mean to Tom Daily on Twitter?
I'm probably in the latter camp, Joey Barton has had plenty of rope and hung himself, his moron followers probably aren't worth saving.
I would say that it's a message worth sending, yes. Neither fame nor free speech is cover for defamation, and if it makes some of these sad online cunts think twice then it's worth it.
Yes. Doesn't make it good law. Did anyone really, really, think that Joey Barton had insider info on the child abuse, and that he wasn't just being a vile, unpleasant twat?
Given the things people have said to and about each other on here, you think the legal principle is fine?
I would be delighted if he was sued out of awareness, except as an amusing educational story.
No one is being targeted on here, and no offences are being committed. And I’m not against distaste but targeted harassment is plain wrong.
As an isolated case I’m not sure he’d have been prosecuted. But he was targeting many others such as Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko which led to pile ons and he made life very unpleasant for them.
I’m quite cheery he was brought to account, if nothing happens then all we are doing is legitimising vile behaviour.
"When we lose our principles, we invite Chaos...." - Mr. Robot - 2017.
That show was ahead of it's time. Probably still is...
Chicago: Knowing when to not cross the silly twat line on the internet.
And sadly had the impact of getting Rami Malek several roles he has been completely unsuited to. An absolute plank of an actor.
Terrible isn't he. Amazing that he's still getting high-ish profile roles.
Nuremberg is potentially a classic film, utterly fucked by his complete lack of ability.
Richard E Grant has maybe 2 or 3 scenes and nearly takes the whole film despite Russel Crowe and particular in Michael Shannon being absolutely on it.
I don’t know what this case is all about.. but I am all for the police getting involved in high profile people whipping up hate mobs on social media.. whether deliberately or recklessly. That shit ruins lives way more than getting punched outside Wetherspoons.. which nobody argues against plod taking an interest in.
After all.. platform like twitter are consistently blessed by organs of state who use them to conduct/communicate official business.. so it’s not the case that people can be told to simply log off and/or not use them. They are deeply embedded in the modern world and whilst I’d rather see the guvmnt simply stop endorsing yank-owned nazi factories, they’re not going to do that so they can at least have plod keeping an eye on things and stepping in if people are using them to do harm.
I'd like to see the corrupt public figures leading political discourse, who whip up this division promoted by the likes of (useful idiots like) Joey Barton, held to account too.
But that's going to require action from we the people, so is almost certainly not going to happen.
Did he? If so, then sure, yup, villain. Even if unintentional. Hence why Farage's lies about groups should lead to incarceration.
But the quotes I saw (which won't be complete) were wretched bog-standard abuse. And I'm not sure how you might determine when it crosses a line effectively. Social media ban and massive defamation payout, 100%.
As I said.. no idea about the specifics of this. But ‘ban and massive payout’ is the sort of consequence I’d most like to see for that kind of thing. Ideally we’d have realistic actions/processes in civil courts for people harmed by celeb-induced pile-ons.. but that’s dreamland stuff. TBH social media is so huge that there’s a pretty good argument that there should be a hefty government agency dealing with what goes on.. both in terms of picking up the regulatory aspect and stuff that, currently, ends up with the police. But, of course, then you see the sort of people who get to the positions that would put them in charge of such an agency and… yeah… on balance it’s probably a problem that us masses are going to have to figure out ourselves.
I’m mostly just opted-out. That’s really all that we rich educated types can do… but if enough of us do it then it can help because we are the high-value consumers that all the underlying shitty business models most rely on. See also AI, enshittified websites/apps, algorithms telling me what to enjoy etc etc. I’m not going to just unplug and live off the land.. but I’ve materially reduced by exposure to all of that without sacrificing all that much.
Come under my tin foil hat. It's lovely and warm.
And largely the accusation that's levelled at those people who choose to opt out of those mainstream behaviours that are in place to disadvantage the majority of people, so that the majority that are not thinking about it all at all can remain comfortable in their incontinence. And those benefiting can continue to take the piss out of them.
I’ve noticed a bit of a shift in attitudes when I talk to people about opting out. Where once their was a bit of bemusement and, perhaps, suspicion about my tinfoil-y leanings.. now I more often get versions of ‘yeah, that sounds like a good idea and I should probably think about doing that’.
They still may be a fair way from action.. but I think more and more people are seeing, and feeling, the damage that it’s all doing.
Australia has just banned social media for under 16s. It’s a bad policy, implemented badly, and for the wrong reasons.. obvs.. but when people talk about it they usually seem to say something along the lines of ‘I think it’s good and I kinda wish they’d ban it for all of us.’
I've deleted all social media this year. Sometimes you feel slightly disconnected from something you want to participate in, but the upsides far outweigh the downs. I've also deleted my Amazon account and again I rarely miss it. I found myself spending time on YouTube for a while, but as you start to unplug you see the algorithms working on you much more clearly and now I'm much more focused about what I read or watch. I spend a lot of time at a computer so fully unplugging is a challenge, but I'm reducing screen time wherever I can.
Been off Facebook for 10+ years, and Twitter + Instagram for about 3 years. Don't miss either of them. I do use Blue Sky occasionally but I'd say maybe 2-3 times a week and there's rarely anything interesting on it. Feels good.
