Ok then. Soviet Union had free speech too. Nobody got arrested for criticizing Reagan or Churchill.
Clearly the point is clear. Why nitpick pointlessly?
Clearly the point is clear. Why nitpick pointlessly?
Someone above asked me how it was nonsense. I responded that people parotting the point about getting arrested for criticising the king is nonsense - like for instance, my American coworkers asking if that's true, because they read it somewhere on the internet. That is nonsense.
If you want to argue with this point please do, but also please observe the rest of my comment and especially the parts that I haven't actually said.
6 people got arrested for trying to say "Not my king!" BEFORE his coronation: https://londondaily.com/not-my-king-anti-monarchy-protesters...
Before they had a chance of protest. After months of discussing the planned protest in details and getting a green light from the Met Police: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65542558
52 people were arrested DURING the coronation, for example for holding a placard "not my king": https://londondaily.com/over-52-anti-monarchy-protestors-arr...
Police arrested despite KNOWING it's the member of public doesn't commit any offence: https://novaramedia.com/2025/03/11/police-officer-who-arrest...
I'm afraid you unwittingly misled your coworkers.
>> Someone above asked me how it was nonsense. I responded that people parotting the point about getting arrested for criticising the king is nonsense
Protesting against the king is criticising the king IMO. I didn't see his quantifier, since I would agree that online critique of the king in particular is not yet penalised.
Not surprising you're implying bad faith though, if we're splitting the hair this thin.
(and this specific planning of the protest was so heavy handed, because it belong to one of the two naughty protests, environmental. The second naughty one is protesting against the genocide. The rest is okay)
It's in the original comment you responded to, and it's a critical part of the conversation chain.
"And yes, UK has some awful laws around this. Yes it has put people in jail just for planning a protest before. Yes you can go to jail for not disclosing your passwords. But what you read on the internet is almost laughably out of proportion - no, you won't get arrested for posting a meme about the king."
I'm not saying bad faith, I'm saying you misread their argument pretty badly.
Your citations support the problems they already admitted. The hair was split before you got here because they're distinguishing in-person and online actions.
You can use other European countries like The Netherlands, which is a lawless police state with a liberal cover, as well.