Man, 19, cuffed after burning Remembrance poppy pic is Facebooked - Polidicks

[quote]A 19-year-old man from Aylesham, near Canterbury in Kent, was arrested last night after a picture of a burning poppy was reportedly posted on Facebook. The county's cops collared the teenager on suspicion of a committing an offence under the Communications Act. "Officers were contacted at around 4pm yesterday, Sunday, 11 November 2012 and alerted to the picture, which was reportedly accompanied by an offensive comment," Kent Police said in a brief statement on the arrest. It is unclear whether the suspect had photographed burning the poppy - a memorial symbol to fallen British Commonwealth soldiers - or if he had simply found the image online and then copied it onto a Facebook page. But, regardless, sending a "grossly offensive" remark online is an offence under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. Kent Police - which like many other forces across the UK - operates its own Twitter account, and used the social network to defend the arrest when asked if it was a waste of resources. Officers tweeted: "When we receive a complaint we have a duty to investigate." Many have questioned the cuffing, labelling it as ludicrous and hash-tagging it on Twitter as "poppycock". Meanwhile, the director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer is drawing up guidelines for prosecutors in dealing with cases of trolling on social media. He has also implied that Twitter, Facebook and similar websites could face regulations to tackle offensive material online before it reaches the courts. He has sought advice from academics, media lawyers, police, journalists, sports bodies and bloggers on people posting abusive or otherwise potentially illegal comments on websites, after a number of trolls were handed prison sentences. Starmer said free speech must be preserved, but believes social networks need to do their bit to help prevent, for example, a sustained campaign of abuse conducted on the web. "Access to social media is ubiquitous and instantaneous. Banter, jokes and offensive comment are commonplace and often spontaneous. Communications intended for a few may reach millions," he said in September. ® [/quote] Source: [url]http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/12/poppy_burning_post_leads_to_man_being_cuffed/[/url] While there's no doubt this is highly offensive to many, these arrests for 'trolling' (quoted because the uk media skews the definition so much) need to stop.

Look, there is a stupid teenager doing stupid shit. Let's give him a criminal record and make him completely unemployable for life. Yeah, that'll teach him!

If we're going to arrest people for posting 'grossly offensive' stuff on Facebook and the internet, then I'd like all of the people who write for the Daily Mail in prison please.

This is what happens when legal definitions are shoddy. The fact that lawmakers knows shit about how the Internet works make matters even worse. I wouldn't blame the police, they're required by law to investigate.

edit - yeah this was a silly comparison arresting someone for this shit is still retarded though

Wait, a picture of a burning poppy was offensive? A picture of a burning flower, seriously?

[QUOTE=Noss;38419617]so its okay for news networks like the BBC to show footage of people burning poppies, killing each other in war etc - but if a dumb kid posts a picture of a burning poppy on facebook he gets arrested wtf[/QUOTE] Uh because the bbc isn't killing those people or burning those Poppy's and they show them to support articles and not just piss people off [editline]12th November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Twistshock;38419655]Wait, a picture of a burning poppy was offensive? A picture of a burning flower, seriously?[/QUOTE] It's not just burning a flower to the majority of UK citizens, think of it like burning a bible or something. It's a dumb thing to do because it achieves nothing but getting people pissed off, hence why the dude got arrested

Hurt feelings police

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;38419680]Hurt feelings police[/QUOTE] I assume they had to fill out one of these [img]http://images.sodahead.com/profiles/0/0/2/5/8/4/8/5/9/butthurt-report-form-internet-edition-78917586364.jpeg[/img]

^ Fucking hilarious

I don't wanna sound like a dumb but, what's a burning poppy?

[QUOTE=mlockha;38419745]I don't wanna sound like a dumb but, what's a burning poppy?[/QUOTE] a poppy is a flower. and burning means something is on fire. if you failed to comprehend that then you are indeed dumb. but I don't think you are dumb.

[QUOTE=mlockha;38419745]I don't wanna sound like a dumb but, what's a burning poppy?[/QUOTE] In britain (and the commonwealth I think) you wear a poppy on your lapel on Remembrance Sunday (the closest sunday to 11/11 - the date of the WW1 armistice) to honor the war dead. Burning a poppy is seen as desecrating the memory of fallen soldiers. It's the british equivalent of burning the american flag in terms of how pissed off it makes people. For starters, we're not even sure if it was his poppy - he might have just found the pic elsewhere. Secondly even if he did burn it - so what? It's a victimless crime.

[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;38419793]In britain (and the commonwealth I think) you wear a poppy on your lapel on Remembrance Sunday (the closest sunday to 11/11 - the date of the WW1 armistice) to honor the war dead. Burning a poppy is seen as desecrating the memory of fallen soldiers. It's the british equivalent of burning the american flag in terms of how pissed off it makes people. [/QUOTE] Oh okay thanks.

What a cunt.

This is foolish, on both parties. The kid has a criminal background now, but it's deserved. At least while the poppies are usually used for Remembrance Day up here in Canada, some people actually steal boxes full of them, it's absolutely disgusting, to be fairly honest. People who do that, or this sort of thing don't deserve a slap on the wrist, but they also don't deserve a criminal background that will lower their chances of getting into a stable job position.

[QUOTE=SatansSin;38420229] People who do that, or this sort of thing don't deserve a slap on the wrist, but they also don't deserve a criminal background that will lower their chances of getting into a stable job position.[/QUOTE] so... community service or something? i don't really think there IS a middle ground, it's either a slap on the wrist or criminal record (would you count getting a caution as a 'slap on the wrist?')

[QUOTE=Noss;38419697]I assume they had to fill out one of these [img]http://images.sodahead.com/profiles/0/0/2/5/8/4/8/5/9/butthurt-report-form-internet-edition-78917586364.jpeg[/img][/QUOTE] [IMG]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3664177/pod/butthurt-report-form-internet-edition-78917586364.jpeg[/IMG]

I think it is ridiculous that someone can be arrested for posting a picture in the internet, Unless it proves that they've done a crime or something like child porn.

The arrest was stupid, but burning a poppy is an absolutely idiotic way of expressing your views, especially on 11/11. Effectively saying all the men who died in the wars over the years are worthless and what they did deserves to be burned or forgotten.

[QUOTE=Twistshock;38419655]Wait, a picture of a burning poppy was offensive? A picture of a burning flower, seriously?[/QUOTE] Poppy is a flower? At first I thoght he posted a picture of a burning puppy.

[QUOTE=Desuh;38420479]Poppy is a flower? At first I thoght he posted a picture of a burning puppy.[/QUOTE] I thought it said poopy :v:

This is fucking ridiculous.

[QUOTE=mlockha;38419745]I don't wanna sound like a dumb but, what's a burning poppy?[/QUOTE] Think of these: [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Poppies_by_Benoit_Aubry_of_Ottawa.JPG/640px-Poppies_by_Benoit_Aubry_of_Ottawa.JPG[/img] but on fire

These arrests have to stop, this is getting beyond a joke. What he did deserves some form of punishment, maybe, but certainly not a criminal record.

[QUOTE=Lium;38420695]These arrests have to stop, this is getting beyond a joke. What he did deserves some form of punishment, maybe, but certainly not a criminal record.[/QUOTE] No, it really doesn't. Maybe Facebook can punish him if they deem it a violation of their rules. Other than that, he should be able to burn whatever he likes as long as it doesn't interfere with anybody else (being offended [i]does not[/i] count).

Arrested for having a picture of a burning flower. That's really stupid.

Arresting someone for posting something "offensive"? "The scary thing is, the man wasn't arrested for burning a poppy - that's not illegal. He was arrested for putting it online." - Tom Williams "What was the point of winning either World War if, in 2012, someone can be casually arrested by Kent Police for burning a poppy?" - David Allen Green

Isn't it kind-of weird to use poppies as a symbol of memory to soldiers? I mean, I guess it's an older tradition, so it's not Afghanistan-related, but... The Taliban is pretty much running on opium-money, so it's kind of the flag of the enemy, innit? Or something like that, guess I'm reading too much into it.

[QUOTE=Riller;38421041]Isn't it kind-of weird to use poppies as a symbol of memory to soldiers? I mean, I guess it's an older tradition, so it's not Afghanistan-related, but... The Taliban is pretty much running on opium-money, so it's kind of the flag of the enemy, innit? Or something like that, guess I'm reading too much into it.[/QUOTE] it's for WW1.