In January a man called Paul Chambers, stuck at a snowed in airport in Nottingham and frustrated with life, wrote a message on Twitter saying that he was going to blow the place sky high if they didn't get their act together.
Unfortunately for Paul, what was obviously a flippant, if unfunny, tweet was intercepted by anti-terrorism bods and within hours he was staring at the walls of a cell.
I mention this because it has serious ramifications for the future of communications on the Web.
In my online past I'm pretty sure I've threatened personal turmoil or trauma towards at least 5 politicians, 8 football referees and everyone who's ever appeared on X-Factor.
I'm also pretty sure none of those people increased their security as a result though.
Because most people who aren't judges and terrorism experts can tell the difference between serious terrorists and frustrated commuters. Even when the words seem similar.
So here's my advice. The next time you're on Facebook or Twitter think twice before writing that you're so frustrated with your husband/wife that you want to kill them, or that the lack of books in the library makes you want to take it out on a librarian.
Not unless you're prepared to spend some time alone in a small area with views that even an estate agent would struggle in making attractive.
You can have a look at Charlie Brooker's reporting of the story here in the Guardian.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment