In addition to the cases you mention, in the past month alone we have also had a man given a community sentence for posting that British soldiers in Afghanistan "should die and go to hell", and a man arrested for creating a Facebook group praising the alleged killer of the two police officers in Greater Manchester.
These all come under the Communications Act 2003, which prohibits any "message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character"
It's stupid puritanistic legislation and it needs to be repealed.
Most of this legislation came in under "think of the children" type laws to prevent critical discussion of the warmongering taking place in the last couple of decades (since just before the Gulf War).
It's not puritanism, as at least that had some moral basis. This is plain totalitarianism under a fascist banner. The associated forms of indoctrination and the inevitable propaganda makes people think they should be offended when they see this as "it must be bad", resulting in the cycle continuing.
Most people aren't offended by this sort of thing - they are afraid to have a potentially different opinion and therefore conform.
Editing to add: in my youth I called a policeman a "fascist cunt" and was told off. I was a) a couple of decades early and b) punished appropriately.
> It's not puritanism, as at least that had some moral basis. This is plain totalitarianism under a fascist banner. The associated forms of indoctrination and the inevitable propaganda makes people think they should be offended when they see this as "it must be bad", resulting in the cycle continuing.
I'm fairly certain it is puritanism. Generally speaking it's the result of people thinking it is an appropriate role of law to enforce morality in society, rather than simply to prevent harm.
The older generations, who by and large decide on the legislation, are out of touch with the younger generations who have been brought up in a broadly secular, liberal social landscape, wherein people are less prudish, popular culture is far more sexualised and provocative, etc.
Young people can't quite get their heads around the arbitrary restrictions on their actions — why they are not allowed to say certain words, why they cannot use certain drugs, etc. — and you can't blame them. Dogmatism is everywhere.
> Editing to add: in my youth I called a policeman a "fascist cunt" and was told off. I was a) a couple of decades early and b) punished appropriately.
It depends on the officer and the context, but today that would probably secure you a Section 5 arrest.
Parent's point was that Puritanism concerned itself with morality, whereas this modern law is strictly a tool of oppression with no moral component at all (except insofar as morality is made equivalent to religion, and the State is made into an idol).
These all come under the Communications Act 2003, which prohibits any "message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character"
It's stupid puritanistic legislation and it needs to be repealed.