This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 12:37 pm and is filed under The Political Weblog Movement.


Civil action can be quite pricey and sometimes dicey, but for those with no time for critics and no taste for accountability, there is an alternative… call the cops and scream ‘harassment’:

Slugger O’Toole – Power of arrest used against Belfast blogger: I cannot and do not wish to speak to the veracity of Murray’s claims against the individuals named on his website. Free speech is rightly moderated by a civil code that gives both sides the opportunity to put their case before a court of law. There is certainly a case for the involvement of the police if a blogger, or one of their commenters implies physical threats against a specific individual. But I’ve been through Murray’s blog and have not been able to find any evidence of such; which might explain why no charges appear to have been preferred. If Malachi is right, the use of police power of arrest appears to have been used directly against a citizen for criticising several public figures on the Internet. That’s a development that should worry more than just the citizens of Belfast.

[Psst! On the subject of (ahem) strategic use of recent harassment law, do take the time to learn more about Timothy Lawson-Cruttenden.]