Are judges out of touch with social media?

To some, the sentences handed out for comments on social media sites seem to high, to others they seem right. How do you feel?

A 12-week prison sentence given to a man who posted offensive comments on Facebook about missing April Jones and Madeleine McCann has been criticised by legal commentators as disproportionate. But are judges and magistrates out of touch when it comes to social media?

On 8 October the Facebook comments landed Matthew Woods, 20, of Chorley, Lancashire, with the longest sentence magistrates could pass - less a third to give credit for an early guilty plea. More at The BBC.

Comments

[Bug Blatter]

I'm in two minds about this.

On the one hand freedom of speech is a v. good thing.

On the other hand standards of behaviour are so poor in this country I like to see any kind of stand against it.

I think I'd probably draw the line based on whether or not the comments were intended as an attack. For example were the comments sent to / directed at the person who would be most offended. Spreading a joke about, say, missing kids is in poor taste but that kind of thing has always gone on and I don't believe that ind of thing should result in a prosecution. Sending hateful messages to the kid's family is an attack and should be dealt with as such. Too many people seem to think they can say and do whatever they like without fear of consequence, and all too often they're right.

But then I also think that kids who where their jeans around their knees, flashing their grotty pants, should be soundly beaten by a police officer with a truncheon until they promise to stop. Actually what would be more effective is all the girls laughing at them; they only do it in the first place because girls think it's cool. Educate your daughters people! ;o)

[Bob Deskin]

Very interesting issue. Can you say anything or almost anything in a private message that you would say face to face? However, we know that most if not all unencrypted email is scanned by some agency. How about in a group of people? If I talk in a group about how silly it is to talk about a bomb while I'm in an airport lineup or worse, conjecture how one would get a bomb past security, is that permissible in a free speech society? Note that I'm not proposing anything or conspiring, just theorizing. What if I do it online in an email? How about on Twitter or Facebook?

If I make an insultingly personal comment to a person face to face, I might get punched but probably nothing more. But if I do it in a group or in writing, i.e. online, it might be slander or liable (Neil?).