A couple of years ago, Twitter user Paul Chambers vented his frustration at the travel chaos caused by heavy snow on the social networking service, and the misplaced humour caused him to be convicted of sending a “menacing message” and fined £1000. Today, he appeals to the common sense of the court on appeal.
The joke may not have been particularly funny, but it amazes me how the police and then criminal prosecution service took this on as a real case and gained a prosecution from the courts, when all Chambers said was
“Robin Hood airport is closed, you’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!”
It was obviously a joke, and I would normally say that anyone claiming otherwise was after one of the “storm in a teacup” type stories that the UK media, most notably the Daily Mail, have become so fond of in recent times. The results of that tweet have certainly not been a joke for Chambers, however, as on top of the £1000 fine, he has lost two jobs in the fallout.
Twitter users around the world took up Chambers’ cause by mockingly making “bomb threats” on the service using the #iamspartacus hashtag, and Stephen Fry has even offered to pay his fine – but there is a real case of the police and legal system utterly misunderstanding a situation, and yet continuing to press for prosecution in order to hide their embarrassment. Apparently a member of the public joking on Twitter about blowing up an airport is worth prosecution even if only tweeted to a few followers, but Jeremy Clarkson “joking” about shooting strikers in front of their families being broadcast on BBC national TV is not. It is quite obvious, that while the humour was misplaced in both cases – neither of these warrant any form of prosecution – there is no incitement to harm others or a menacing tone – jokes are just that. IF the police, criminal prosecution service and courts cannot work out the tone of a joke in the form of a tweet then that is their problem and they need to change their methods. But whatever they do, Chambers’ joke of a conviction needs to be quashed.