Britain’s Orwellian war against “tweetcrime”
If you thought it was only authoritarian states like China or Iran that imprisoned pesky bloggers and tweeters, think again. This week, Britain became a fully paid-up member of that clique of illiberal intolerant, tweeter-harassing states. On Tuesday, at Swansea Magistrates Court in Wales, Liam Stacey, a student, was imprisoned for 56 days for writing offensive tweets. Fifty-six days. Two months. In an actual jail. For tweeting. It needs to be spelt out like that in order to show how shocking it is that in the 21st century, in a nation that gave us such great warriors for freedom as The Levellers and John Stuart Mill, a young man has now been banged up for expressing his thoughts.
Daily Mail: Government bill to spy on websites, emails and texts will cost taxpayers £2bn