For those of you not aware, Count Dankula (Mark Meechan) was recently convicted of a hate crime for making a joke video on YouTube. He taught his pug to make Nazi salutes and get excited to "gas the jews". It was an entirely satrical video to irritate his girlfriend. He may be looking at going to jail for 6 MONTHS because of this video.
Count Dankula convicted for Nazi pug antics
The loss of FREE SPEECH in the UK
Every day in the UK, we lose more privacy, more freedom. This sentencing may shake the last remnant of freedom of speech, and means we must live in fear of making jokes, dare it offend someone then we will be imprisoned.
On the 23rd of April 2018 (Monday), there will be two protests. One in LONDON to get the attention of MPs, the general public, and other government. The other in NORTH LANARKSHIRE (scotland) where he is being sentenced.
There are potentially 100s of people going to each protest. I hope that many of you here on Steemit are willing to fight for freedom of speech and will come to these protests.
Speakers Corner
In the UK, we've sadly been forced into "speakers corners" to be able to express ourselves, and even that isn't guaranteed.
The largest of such is Hyde Park in London, which has been visited by people such as George Orwell (the writer for the book 1984), Karl Marx, and Vladimir Lenin.
In 1999, a ruling based on the EU convention of Human Rights told the UK that we have the right to express ourselves freely, even if what we say is offensive.
The ruling famously established in English case law that freedom of speech could not be limited to the inoffensive but extended also to "the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome, and the provocative, as long as such speech did not tend to provoke violence", and that the right to free speech accorded by Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights also accorded the right to be offensive. Prior to the ruling, prohibited speech at Speakers' Corner included obscenity, blasphemy, insulting the queen, or inciting a breach of the peace.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speakers'_Corner
With this ruling on Monday, Speakers' Corners across the UK are at risk of being shut down, censored. Another piece of Free Speech in the UK chipped away. We move towards becoming China, North Korea, Iran. It's not okay.
End Quote
If you care about freedom of speech, you must FIGHT FOR IT. A famous quote from Martin Niemöller, relating to the Holocaust:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
GIF Avatar by @stellabelle
Do you like what I'm doing for STEEM/Steemit?
Vote for me to be a witness - every vote counts.
Don't forget to follow me for more like this.
Have you ever thought about being a witness yourself? Join the witness channel. We're happy to guide you! Join in shaping the STEEM economy.
Are you looking for a new server provider? My company @privex offers highly-reliable and affordable dedicated and virtual servers for STEEM, LTC, and BTC! Check out our website at https://www.privex.io