[llmslave2]

I'd rather get arrested in the UK too, but that's completely irrelevant.

> Hate speech is a problem. If it wasn’t, why are Russia and China spending so much on troll farms?

Non-sequitur. The existence of troll farms doesn’t mean it's such a big problem that we should give up our rights surrounding speech and communication that we fought hard for.

[aetherson]

I don't think it's completely irrelevant. Can we admit some nuance where the UK's fast ramp up of arrests for previously legal speech is genuinely concerning, but also that raw number of arrests (not even convictions!) is not the only basis for comparison?

[immibis]

What are people saying that gets them arrested? This important but as-yet-unanswered question is crucial to evaluating the severity of the UK's censorship regime.

[kolektiv]

Probably the most high-profile case was the Lucy Connolly one, where she posted:

> "Mass deportation now, set fire to all the fucking hotels full of the bastards for all I care, while you’re at it take the treacherous government and politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist so be it”

For additional context (which was relevant during the prosecution and sentencing) this was posted during a time of riots and arson attacks centred on asylum accommodations, and very shortly following a highly publicised mass-murder of children which was (entirely wrongly) being blamed on asylum seekers.

She also pleaded guilty to the charged offence, rather than contesting the charge, for clarity. While not all cases will be quite like this, it is definitely not the case that - as some parties of the right have claimed - she is a free-speech martyr, a political prisoner, and so on.

[seattle_spring]

So explicitly calling for violence, not just "posting a political opinion" like so many people are claiming.

[llmslave2]

If that comment meets the bar for "explicitly calling for violence", tens of Hackernews posters would be getting arrested daily for how they talk about billionaires. AOC should avoid travel to the UK because her "eat the rich" rhetoric is an explicit call for violence under this standard. Etc etc.

[immibis]

Yes, that's correct. Have you tried reporting them to the police? If they're in the UK, they can be prosecuted.

[llmslave2]

No I haven't tried reporting them to the police because A) it's not illegal speech and B) I'm not a loser

[thunderfork]

billionaires aren't a protected class in the UK (yet), afaik

[llmslave2]

Neither are politicians or immigrants at large so I'm not sure how that's relevant.

[tyho]

> following a highly publicised mass-murder of children which was (entirely wrongly) being blamed on asylum seekers.

The mass-murder was a consequence of the asylum system. Given what is publicly known, parents of Axel Rudakubana were overwhelmingly likely to have been asylum seekers.