Althouse: "Boris Johnson has pledged to introduce criminal sanctions for social media bosses who allow 'foul content' to be posted on their platforms...."

October 20, 2021

"Boris Johnson has pledged to introduce criminal sanctions for social media bosses who allow 'foul content' to be posted on their platforms...."

"The prime minister was responding to criticism from Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, who... pointed to media reports that 40 hours of hateful content [which] “The prime minister and the government could stop... by making it clear that directors of companies are criminally liable for failing to tackle this type of material on their sites....” Johnson responded: 'Of course we will have criminal sanctions with tough sentences for those who are responsible for allowing this foul content to permeate the internet.'"

From "Social media executives will be prosecuted for hatred and abuse online, says Boris Johnson" (London Times).

30 comments:

Michael K said...: Boris is a living example of the possible long term consequences of Covid.; 10/20/21, 5:08 PM
GatorNavy said...: The difference between a citizen and a subject is subtle, but you can always feel it’s presence. Like wearing your chains lightly or licking the correct wrist.; 10/20/21, 5:10 PM
Owen said...: Michael K: threadwinner.; 10/20/21, 5:36 PM
Quaestor said...: Boris Johnson. The Tories need to dump that turkey before their biscuits are hopelessly burnt.

Get stuffed, Boris. (There's some fowl content we can all get behind.); 10/20/21, 5:36 PM
hawkeyedjb said...: As always, it depends on who gets to determine what is "hateful." The people who think they'll be in charge will say this is a wonderful idea.

Censorship is always and only for the common good, you know.; 10/20/21, 5:47 PM
NYC JournoList said...: If the speech is legal why is it a crime to allow a user to post it? If it not legal speech why not punish the speaker rather than the platform?; 10/20/21, 6:13 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I suppose Boris would have me declared a criminal because I've kept up this comments section.; 10/20/21, 6:14 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Boris is wandering around the landscape spouting nonsense.

But Althouse, there is no hate here, just differences of opinion among smart people.

Thanks for keeping open house. I know I don't see the stuff you moderate.; 10/20/21, 6:17 PM
rhhardin said...: Hateful speech is my job.; 10/20/21, 6:49 PM
rcocean said...: The Brits have NEVER believed in free speech. And their crazy love of conformity goes back to the 19th century. Combine these two and you have Boris Johnson, the so-called Conservative, acting the way he does.

Thanks to the Globalization of the internet and advertising, we might soon have free speech extinguished completely on the internet, even for Americans.

An Englishman just conforms. HE thinks it right and proper for the Government to police everyone's thoughts and ideas. Anything else would be anarchy in his eyes. And they make fun of Germans!; 10/20/21, 7:04 PM
Quaestor said...: Althouse writes, "I suppose Boris would have me declared a criminal because I've kept up this comments section."

I wouldn't worry. He's chicken.; 10/20/21, 7:41 PM
Howard said...: Wait a second I thought this guy was your Trump across the pond hero; 10/20/21, 8:06 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: ...and do not expect us to describe or define Unlawful Hateful Content. We know it when we see it.; 10/20/21, 8:13 PM
Darkisland said...: One thing we always forget about Boris Johnson (and every other British PM) is that he was NOT elected by anyone. Other than by his constituency to his seat in Parliament.

He was SELECTED, by his party leadership. They RECOMMENDED to the queen make him HER (not England's, but her) number one (prime) minister. First among the other ministers that she selected.

Of course she went along with naming the party's nominee PM because the party never would have asked her to choose him if she had indicated she didn't want him.

He serves at her pleasure and can be dismissed at any time. As can any member of parliament or parliament as an entity.

So Boris has to do what the queen says or he can be out of a job.

Although this might cause a "Constitutional Crisis(tm)". If Britain actually had a Constitution.

(I hear someone say that they do have a constitution, a really old one going back 800 years. Can you provide a link to the text? No? Is that because there isn't one?)

Using Britain as our political role model is really, really, REALLY, stupid. And offensive.

John Henry; 10/20/21, 8:14 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Boris Johnson can go fuck himself.; 10/20/21, 8:23 PM
David Begley said...: Didn’t Boris go to Oxford? How could he be so stupid? Who decides what is “ foul content?”; 10/20/21, 8:30 PM
David Begley said...: Johnson was president of the Oxford Union; the famous debating society.; 10/20/21, 8:33 PM
Joe Smith said...: GB has no First Amendment so...

Maybe the citizens there need to overthrow the monarchy and institute a constitution with free speech rights.; 10/20/21, 9:00 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Howard said...

"Wait a second I thought this guy was your Trump across the pond hero"

We thought so, but we were wrong- he is just a younger Biden, and just as principleless.; 10/20/21, 11:28 PM
Critter said...: Winner = Joe Smith who correctly notes that Britain does not have a 1st Amendment. Thanks to the BRILLIANT Founding Fathers who took this right away from the likes of Joe Biden by assigning the right of freedom of expression to the grant of our Creator. Although Britain has a tradition of freedom of the press, obviously the lack of a 1st Amendment leaves free speech subject to political whims and the ignorant policies of those who know how to code, but little else.; 10/20/21, 11:44 PM
Nicholas said...: Michael K hits a nerve, but I'm not sure if it's Covid: I recommend to readers to seek out some of Boris's youthful prose, from his time as the Brussels correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. In those days, he wrote vigorously in defence of individual liberty, using vivid imagery and a galaxy of colourful adjectives. In one memorable piece, written at a time when then PM Tony Blair was contemplating introducing to the UK Continental-style Identity Cards, Boris wrote that as a free-born Englishman, if asked to produce his by a policeman, he would eat it before the policeman's eyes rather than comply. His spell as motoring correspondent of the UK edition of Esquire also produced some hilarious pieces - think PJ O'Rourke with a posh accent.

Since becoming PM however, something seems to have happened to him, that has completely quelled his previous spirit. Even before his brush with Covid, he had endorsed an expensive White Elephant of a high speed railway line (looking ever more foolish in a world of working from home) and has made utterances about the environment that sound close to Prince Harry than to what one would expect of a Classics scholar who can recite reams of poetry from memory. He's gone from declaring he would swallow his Identity Card to embracing identity politics.; 10/21/21, 3:52 AM
Big Mike said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/21/21, 8:39 AM
Big Mike said...: That’s perfectly reasonable, and I could get behind censoring “foul content.”

As long as I’m the one who gets to decide what constitutes “foul content.”; 10/21/21, 8:40 AM
mikee said...: The censor-favorite idea of "hate speech" replaced the legal idea of speech that "incites violence" thus putting the censors in charge, rather than anything or anyone objective. Congrats to the censors for figuring out that they can denounce - selectively and irrefutably, any speech they deem to be offensive, without recourse. I hope the same plan will work when dealing with them - demanding they stop their offensive hatred of free speech, under threat of government penalties. But somehow I suspect they will insist the ratchet tightens in only one direction.; 10/21/21, 11:23 AM
PM said...: On this side of the pond, 'foul content' is called 'hurtful remarks'.; 10/21/21, 11:48 AM
Drago said...: Howard: "Wait a second I thought this guy was your Trump across the pond hero"

You're just playing stupid now, arent you?

Conservatives trusted Boris on standing up to your "heroic" betters in the EU and completing Brexit.

In every other way Boris is just another Theresa May.; 10/21/21, 12:37 PM
KellyM said...: I remember seeing Boris on an old Top Gear episode after he'd been elected mayor. Clarkson gave him no quarter. Boris was a prat then - some things haven't changed.; 10/21/21, 1:16 PM
Vance said...: I've always said we should ban hate speech like leftists want, as long as we let Rush Limbaugh, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul define what is hate speech. It's all hate speech, so who cares who defines or enforces the ban, right? Shouldn't it be obvious what speech should be banned?

Odd thing, though... every single leftist has been stridently opposed to the idea of banning hate speech if Ted Cruz, Rush Limbaugh, and Rand Paul are the ones in charge of banning it.

Wonder why? Complete mystery there. But they do stop asking me "how can you be opposed to banning hate speech you hater mchater!" after that.; 10/21/21, 1:33 PM
Drago said...: Vance: "Odd thing, though... every single leftist has been stridently opposed to the idea of banning hate speech if Ted Cruz, Rush Limbaugh, and Rand Paul are the ones in charge of banning it."

Odd thing, though... every single leftist/LLR-leftist has been stridently opposed to the idea of banning hate speech if Ted Cruz, Rush Limbaugh, and Rand Paul are the ones in charge of banning it.

FIFY; 10/21/21, 3:23 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: Of course we will have criminal sanctions with tough sentences for those who are responsible for allowing this foul content to permeate the internet.

I don't see the problem myself. Many commenters here have argued that "social media bosses" have taken advantage of US laws which allow them to claim they are merely a platform and not responsible for content. Yet they regularly cancel content that they don't want to see disseminated. Particularly in the political realm. They just label it "hate speech", or "violence"
Maybe Boris is gonna impose a little altruism on Zuck and Dorsey.; 10/21/21, 9:31 PM