A student has admitted posting racially offensive comments on Twitter about footballer Fabrice Muamba.
Liam Stacey, 21, appeared at Swansea magistrates' court after tweeting about the Bolton Wanderers player who collapsed during a FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
The 23-year-old, who suffered a cardiac arrest, remains critically ill.
Stacey, a Swansea University student from Pontypridd, admitted a racially-aggravated public order offence.
He was arrested after his comments on the social networking site were reported by other users.
He has been released on bail and is due to be sentenced on 27 March,
Prosecutor Lisa Jones told the court: "Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch and was believed to have died."
The court heard shortly afterwards Stacey posted the offensive comments.
Complaints
Magistrates were told police forces across Britain received complaints following the comments.
Stacey tried to "distance himself" from the tweets by claiming his account had been hacked, the court was told.
Magistrates heard he later tried to delete his page but he was arrested on Sunday at his student house in Swansea.
Fabrice Muamba, 23, collapsed during a match on Saturday When interviewed by police, Stacey said he had been drinking since lunchtime on Saturday and was drunk when he made the comments.
He told police: "I was at the bar when I heard what had happened to Muamba. I don't know why I posted it.
"I'm not racist and some of my friends are from different cultural backgrounds."
Bailed
Stacey was close to tears as the evidence was given about his tweets.
The court heard he later texted a friend and said: "I said something about Muamba that I shouldn't have and tweeted back to some people who abused me. Getting police on me now which isn't good at all."
Stacey was told in court that he could be jailed over the comments.
He has been bailed until he is sentenced and has been ordered not to use Twitter and other social networking sites.
Basically, a 21 year old was arrested for making racist comments on Twitter about a professional football player who had a heart attack a few days ago.
This is the first time that I have ever heard of an ordinary, non-famous person getting in serious legal trouble for comments posted online. It would be one thing if this was happening in Iran or Syria, but in the UK? Seriously? What the hell is up with that? I don't live in Britain, but I thought that free speech was something that was valued over there.
I'm really curious what you guys think about this, especially those of you living in the UK.
Poll: Should saying offensive things online be a criminal offense?
No (932)
68%
Only in extreme cases (316)
23%
Yes (126)
9%
1374 total votes
Your vote: Should saying offensive things online be a criminal offense?
(Vote): Yes (Vote): No (Vote): Only in extreme cases
Poll: Should people be arrested/punished for hate speech?
No (457)
46%
Only in extreme cases (366)
37%
Yes (170)
17%
993 total votes
Your vote: Should people be arrested/punished for hate speech?
(Vote): Yes (Vote): No (Vote): Only in extreme cases
I added a new poll since this started to turn into a discussion of hate speech as well as freedom of speech online.
As far as I'm concerned, the internet should be an "anything goes" type atmosphere. If someone says something offensive on twitter, you should block them and move on. Any infringement on free speech worries me greatly.
HERE IS A VIDEO OF THE TWEETS:
On March 20 2012 09:39 dAPhREAk wrote: here are his tweets. somebody preserved them on youtube.
Last edit: 2012-03-20 10:49:05
As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities.
Soleron United Kingdom. March 20 2012 09:26. Posts 1324
If it's in that bad taste I don't know how they'd really punish you for it but I'm against, although again I don't know how you'd punish it 'reasonably' even if it was a criminal offense.
Keep the Dream Alive
micronesia United States. March 20 2012 09:29. Posts 19342
I'm not surprised that this happened in the UK. There seems to be less regard for privacy and individual freedom by the government there than on this side of the pond.
Next thing you know saying "the King is bad at basketball LOL!" gets you beheaded ._.
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ydeer1993 United Kingdom. March 20 2012 09:30. Posts 569
Couple of years ago somebody else here in the UK was convicted and fined for something he posted on Twitter Heavy snow had affected flights and he posted he'd "bomb" the airport if his flight didnt make it.
On March 20 2012 09:31 dAPhREAk wrote: seems overly harsh to send someone to jail over racist tweets. i fear the day that will happen in the U.S. jails/prisons are overcrowded as it is.
We have the First Amendment in the US. At least last time I checked.
"The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design." — Friedrich von Hayek
Wow, just wow. He is entitled to his opinion is he not? Even if it is a racist one. Doesn't mean we have to like of, but to go to jail for it? Seriously?
Life is to short so love the one you got, cause you might get run over or you might get shot-Sublime
Yeah its fucking stupid getting arrested over some retarded comment on the internet. I think at the worst he should have just been banned from the site. People should be free to post whatever they want and others be free to ignore.
Ofcourse he should be jailed if the court deemed his comments as hate speech, which is illegal in the UK according to wikipedia. Nothing controversial about this, except he wrote it on twitter, which somehow makes it a big deal.
Edit: Saw the tweets, not sure what he will get now, may just get a fine, but I have no idea how strict they are on hate speech in the UK.
Last edit: 2012-03-20 09:43:43
really?
Mordoc United States. March 20 2012 09:38. Posts 162
On March 20 2012 09:29 micronesia wrote: I'm not surprised that this happened in the UK. There seems to be less regard for privacy and individual freedom by the government there than on this side of the pond.
Next thing you know saying "the King is bad at basketball LOL!" gets you beheaded ._.
Am I terrible for laughing at this?
It's not a witchhunt if you have KR: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=371282#1 "HotBid [11:45 AM]: i dunno i kinda like the big muta shooting smaller mutas out"
I don't really know what he said, but if he was definitely being racist why shouldn't there be legal ramifications? Maybe people would stop being such twats online.
edit: saw the video above. I see no problem here.
Last edit: 2012-03-20 09:44:01
Oiseaux United States. March 20 2012 09:41. Posts 622
I'll admit that even though the punishment feels really extreme (at least coming from an American perspective), I honestly don't have a problem with punishing this action in some form. Even if the internet is cyberspace, it's still a social "space." Just because one may think they have internet anonymity, it still shouldn't be an excuse to spew whatever hateful garbage you want to say.
"[S]o be ready to kiss a few donkeys with glued-on paper horns during your unicorn hunt." -Some stupid 4x4 magazine
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Soleron United Kingdom. March 20 2012 09:26. Posts 1324
micronesia United States. March 20 2012 09:29. Posts 19342
