In the UK, Woman Guilty of Racism for Posting Rap Lyrics
I just finished hearing our Editor-at-Large say she thought dogs have more rights in the UK than people. She's not that far off (see UK: Man Defends Himself from Burglars, Killing One. Gets Arrested for Murder. and UK Judge Won’t Allow Parents to Try to Save Alfie Evans). Seems to post rap lyrics on your Instagram account can get you in trouble with the local authorities. If someone thinks it's racist.
Chelsea Russell, 19, from Liverpool posted the lyric from Snap Dogg's I'm Trippin' to pay tribute to a boy who died in a road crash, a court heard.
I Googled it, and Snap Dogg is not a typo. Just an unoriginal rapper who is trying to bite off of the Snoop D-O-Double-Gizzle's flow.
Russell argued it was not offensive, but was handed a community order.Prosecutors said her sentence was increased from a fine to a community order "as it was a hate crime".
She was charged after Merseyside Police were anonymously sent a screenshot of her update.
She was given an eight-week community order, placed on an eight-week curfew and told to pay costs of £500 and an £85 victim surcharge.
To recap. She posted song lyrics in tribute to a friend who died. Some rando on social media didn't like the lyrics. Narced on her. So now she has to do community service. And pay the government money. Over song lyrics. Mind you, rappers themselves perform in the UK all the time. Presumably, Snap Dogg does too.
But post one of his lyrics, and you're the problematic one.
The content of the posting doesn't matter. In this case, it was rap lyrics. Last month, Count Dankula was busted for a joke with a pug. Tomorrow it could be sharing a recipe on Twitter which calls for extra gluten. Causing all the gluten intolerant to dive under their tables to nibble on raw kale. In the UK, it sure seems like the offended have more rights than anyone else. Because all one needs to be arrested, charged, fined, whatever is to "offend someone." That's the problem with "hate speech" laws or having any laws written to protect the offended. What is or is not offensive to one person isn't to the other. It's a moving target.
The best solution is to tell people to shut their yaps about "I'm offended." Watch: Ricky Gervais Nails PC Culture: “Just Because You’re Offended Doesn’t Mean You’re Right!”
This is why we broke up with you, Britain. Debates over personal freedom versus some tosser getting their knickers in a twist over an Instagram post. It's not us. It's you.
