The woman accused of being first to spread the fake rumours about the Southport killer which sparked nationwide riots has been arrested.

Racist riots spread across the country after misinformation spread on social media claiming the fatal stabbing was carried out by Ali Al-Shakati, believed to be a fictitious name, a Muslim aslyum seeker who was on an MI6 watchlist.

A 55-year-old woman from Chester has now been arrested on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred, and false communication. She remains in police custody.

While she has not been named in the police statement about the arrest, it is believed to be Bonnie Spofforth, a mother-of-three and the managing director of a clothing company.

You are viewing a single thread.
View all comments
115 points

Oh man, we need some of that shit in the US. Arrest these right wing media nut jobs and their Jewish laser bullshit.

permalink
report
reply
-4 points

Careful what you wish for. Our freedom of speech is a pretty big thing we have. You want the guy who tweeted that Vance was a couch fucker to be thrown in prison or some shit?

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

Obviously when it works out in my favor… I’m all for it.

But really, slander is slander. JD has plenty to make fun of that’s real. Just dig a little.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

It’s not slander if you can’t prove it’s not true.

permalink
report
parent
reply
9 points

If the hard right propaganda machine isn’t shut down we will deal with the risk of a fascist takeover every four years for the rest of our country’s existence.

Free speech is not absolute, and the ‘fighting words’ precedent certainly applies to fascist instigators.

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

We almost had to deal with the free speech limitations of KOSA. The power to limit free speech will eventually be abused.

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

Hard to believe anyone would riot over JD Vance fucking a couch though

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points
*

UK has freedom of speech, but there are limits. Been a Nazi is not covered.

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

As Chomsky said, “That’s not freedom of speech”

permalink
report
parent
reply
-2 points

I think you mean freeze peach

permalink
report
parent
reply
29 points

Freedom of speech should not equal to the freedom of consequences. You should be able to say whatever you want, but when you lie with intent of causing harm, you should be accountable.

permalink
report
parent
reply
11 points

I’m okay with this phrase except for the word “intent”. If we give someone the power to try to assess our intent, it can easily go the way of totalitarian states where they say you have a bad intent any time you criticize the government.

You should be punished for outcome, not intent. If you say something provably untrue that results in riots or murders, you should be held accountable for the outcomes of those statements. This is not that different from our current libel laws.

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points
*

I mean Rogan and Kyle Rittenhouse got canceled this week by trumpers for daring to not say trump is their favorite weirdo. Free speech is mostly a bludgeon that is currently only allowed to be wielded by in groups.

If you spread a knowingly false fact with the intent of causing riots, imo that’s a good law. Nobody is going to riot over the couch fucking tweet.

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points

People complaining about you is not the same thing as being put in jail

permalink
report
parent
reply
11 points

There’s a difference between getting canceled and getting in actual trouble by the government.

permalink
report
parent
reply
-1 points

When you are calling these fucking assholes weirdos, do you realize how fucking many kids have had to live through that stigma being slung at them unfairly and hurtfully?

Do you know why one of the worlds most loved and celebrated humans calls himself Weird Al Yankovich?

Yes im venting im sorry but this new tactic against the enemies of humanity is going to cause damage to people who are already and always have been vulnerable.

Shame on everyone who is jumping on this band wagon with absolutely no understanding of the consequences you are having.

I hope you can live with yourself for being part of the reason kids feel like they need to take a gun, go to school, and start shooting their bullies. While thats not the motivation of all these school shootings it was very much a big part of Columbine happening.

So go ahead and keep doing harm to a small group of people you didnt give enough thought to before you propagate this moniker for people are some of the worst people in history

permalink
report
parent
reply
22 points
*

Calling a dude a couch fucker is not the same as yelling fire in a crowded movie theater.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

And really, the worst thing the JD Vance rumors will do is cause a sales bump for Siemens couches by Republican males.

permalink
report
parent
reply
17 points

When you spread outright lies about someone what sparks violence, it’s a bit different, right? Or are you on the side of the woman who lied about Emmet Till and got him killed? Because if it was known she lied about the thing at the time, I’d say she should have been jailed the same as his killers.

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

Only those too propagandized to realize it believe you actually have the right to free speech in the USA. You’re guilty of something, all the time, in the USA. If they want to get you for something, they can. It’s that simple. It’s not hyperbole and it is the fascist playbook used in the USSR before as well.

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points

You’ll be hard pressed to find people in the US who get in trouble for criticism of the government or most other things. I can freely say the president sucks and cops are dirty, and no one will lift a finger in the US. I’m allowed to say this. There’s a good many countries where you can’t.

permalink
report
parent
reply

If someone unironically advocated for that, then yes.

Lies aren’t free speech.

Though without the Context I have a feeling that this was to show show how ridiculous the allegations of him are.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

This is the first time i have seen someone with an Israeli flag on Lemmy. Congratulations.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

My understanding is that it was a made up name, so there is no “him”. But also, she’s claiming she heard it from someone else, so why is she the one getting in all the trouble, as opposed to everyone else who spread it around?

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points

Yeah the reality is if the courts start letting the government arrest people for speech, it’s those going on about “woke mind viruses” who are gonna be the first to weaponize that. Without free speech, the left ceases to exist.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

The left have been utterly excluded from free speech protections.

Yes, they have.

permalink
report
parent
reply
14 points

They arrested the guy too. And I’m all for it.

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

Did they?

permalink
report
parent
reply

what? what the fuck is going on here.

Context, fast. This is a context-robery!

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

Looks like German runes

permalink
report
parent
reply

World News

!world@lemmy.world

Create post

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

  • Rule 1: posts have the following requirements:

    • Post news articles only
    • Video links are NOT articles and will be removed.
    • Title must match the article headline
    • Not United States Internal News
    • Recent (Past 30 Days)
    • Screenshots/links to other social media sites (Twitter/X/Facebook/Youtube/reddit, etc.) are explicitly forbidden, as are link shorteners.
  • Rule 2: Do not copy the entire article into your post. The key points in 1-2 paragraphs is allowed (even encouraged!), but large segments of articles posted in the body will result in the post being removed. If you have to stop and think “Is this fair use?”, it probably isn’t. Archive links, especially the ones created on link submission, are absolutely allowed but those that avoid paywalls are not.

  • Rule 3: Opinions articles, or Articles based on misinformation/propaganda may be removed. Sources that have a Low or Very Low factual reporting rating or MBFC Credibility Rating may be removed.

  • Rule 4: Posts or comments that are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, anti-religious, or ableist will be removed. “Ironic” prejudice is just prejudiced.

  • Posts and comments must abide by the lemmy.world terms of service UPDATED AS OF 10/19

  • Rule 5: Keep it civil. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.

  • Rule 6: Memes, spam, other low effort posting, reposts, misinformation, advocating violence, off-topic, trolling, offensive, regarding the moderators or meta in content may be removed at any time.

  • Rule 7: We didn’t USED to need a rule about how many posts one could make in a day, then someone posted NINETEEN articles in a single day. Not comments, FULL ARTICLES. If you’re posting more than say, 10 or so, consider going outside and touching grass. We reserve the right to limit over-posting so a single user does not dominate the front page.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

Community stats

  • 12K

    Monthly active users

  • 5.7K

    Posts

  • 58K

    Comments