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"I hope you die" is not a threat. You are equating utterly different things.

Well, you might think so. But in Britain you might need to go all the way to the High Court to establish the notion that things are not always meant the way they are written: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19009344

I actually have very little problem with that case. I think the tweet read plainly as a threat and an incredibly stupid thing to say.

I would have been happier if it had been handled with an investigation and warning and not make it to prosecution, but as far as I'm concerned, the guy deserved some nontrivial inconvenience. I'm kind of ambivalent about the fact that the conviction was quashed.

He wasn't even sent to prison. He was fined. I don't think that's a wholly unreasonable way for society to say "don't do that".

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