Way back, I argued against creating unbelievably vague legislation, or using legislation for purposes it wasn't designed for.
In 2010 I also argued about using the communications act for internet posts: Delphius' Debate: Think Happy Thoughts.... or Else
All I have to say on teh subject is in that post. I'd forgotten about it, but it has become quite prescient over the past 15 years.
I also argued against the unbelievably vague violent porn laws back in the Blair days, before this blog existed. The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act was so vague, it could, if applied in a particularly obtuse way, ensnare any publication. The wording of the act effectively prohibiting any publication the government or the Police deemed unfit.
The same argument was applied in the "Think Happy Thoughts" post from 2010. The Police at the time were hamstrung in prosecuting someone for a fake bomb threat, until after ( I assume weeks of trawling through legislation to find a way to prosecute him ) the Police decided to use the communications act.
An act that has now been twisted and bent and amalgamated with other legislation that what I said back in 2010 has come to pass with bells on.
I fail to see how a post made in America, on an American website, by a foreign national can in any way be investigated by the UK police, let alone prosecuted.
If anyone in America failed to understand the dystopian nightmare unfolding in the UK, the Graham Lineham arrest is an abject illustration.
For one, it means that a foreign national of ANY country, if they make a comment online that falls foul of UK law, is then under threat of being arrested if at some point in the future they attempt to enter the UK.
Let that sink in.
A citizen of a different country.
Making a post in a different country.
Is now subject to UK law.
The UK government now thinks it can Police the people of the world. How arrogant is that.
I would advise anyone from a country that upholds true free speech should not come to the UK. Because it could be that in the future, you may visit the UK and find yourself liable for prosecution for an intemperate tweet from decades ago.
Because that's the other thing: UK legislation has no time limit. There is no statute of limitations. UK law is unlimited from a timescale perspective.
You could have even made the tweet before the UK legislation came into force, but that's no defence, because the legislation has no clause in it preventing prosecution for retrospective activity.
So being unaware of a law that has not been enacted yet is not a defence in UK law.
Is this the insanity of the UK judiciary, government and civil service.
I mean, if a foreign national, making a tweet in a foreign country is subject to arrest for breaching UK law if they set foot in the UK, what would that do to the tourist industry?
It's not hard to imagine someone controversial like Charlie Kirk, making a comment, or a post online that upsets a trans activist.
Charlie Kirk is an American citizen, making posts primarily in America. But he occasionally does make visits to the UK.
Is he now at risk of being arrested at a UK airport for those posts he made in his own country?
How does that apply to more ordinary Americans? Are tourists that use X or Facebook at risk of arrest for intemperate or offensive (to some) tweets they made way back when twitter wasn't X?
That's how stupid UK legislation is becoming. They are trying to Police everyone everywhere for anything they have ever posted online. It's unworkable. And hugely arrogant.