Interesting piece from the Telegraph about a UK Twitter protest against the conviction of a guy for Tweeting a threat to/about Sheffield’s airport.
Seems that Paul Chambers, 27, was annoyed at the thought he was going to miss his flight, but evidently had the time and the device on his hands to threaten to blow up Robin Hood Airport (I’m not making that up) in a week if it didn’t get its [act] together.
A British judge found the content of the Tweet to be “menacing” (which is a crime) & fined him a total of £3000, which is probably the only kind of thing that will get a 27-year-old male Tweeter’s attention.
Although you might not think this was your basic blokish bloviating, and that authorities all along the line have lost their senses of humor and perspective, that’s not the story.
The story is that the Twittersphere has rallied behind Chambers, with thousands retweeting his original post and adding “#IamSpartacus”. (Although I’m sure there are multiple variants on the spelling.) This in reference to the 1960 Stanley Kubrick film where the rebellious gladiators refused to let their leader be singled out for punishment.
I’m not sure what to make of it—except that such an act of viral solidarity (is that an oxymoron?) is not at all the same thing as standing with a lighted candle under posters of the desaparacidos, marching on Selma or even texting three quid to a fund to help pay Chambers’ fine. Tweeting “I am Spartacus” is a no-cost no-brain act of trendiness, rather than a real protest, viral or otherwise.
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