Daily Poll: Statement Analysis, Offensive Edition

[bigbaldben]

Vote dammit.

Bonus points for explaining any disagreement.

[The Empire]

Disagre with first part but not the second due to the fact that the first part would depend on the nature and degree of offensiveness.
For example: Beeing verbally offensive in a non-personal way, for instance in a creationsim/evolution argument isn't a crime and shouldn't ever be,
while spreading inflammatory desinformation and/or rumours about a person or group of people in order to frame them as legitimate targets of persecution or violence for who they are or what social group they belong to is most definitely a crime in my eyes even if not all countries recognise it as such.

[Delfos]

If you call pig to a policeman it is a crime. I don't think it should ever be a "crime" in any situation but there could be fines or compensation fees regarding being offensive if it's justifiable, which is rarely the case.

Being offensive can fall under "freedom of expression" that you muricans love to claim to have (but don't really), but if it ruins the life or job of a person shouldn't that person pursue compensation? I'm not sure, I think if I got my life ruined by false accusations I'd want compensation. But then there's this second part:

In terms of (private) companies I couldn't care less, tbh saying "SodaStream can rot in hell together with Scarlett Johansson" is completely justified, Scarlett is a public figure, she's not a "person" as in having normal person rights regarding the choices of work and words she uses to make money, same with politicians. Right now, in many western countries, companies can sue people that say things like that, I think it's a perversion of individual rights vs commercial rights. If I'm against the actions of a person or company and I can justify it - I should have the right to say hell is an appropriate place for a Jewish company to slowly decay through time.

[bigbaldben]

If you call pig to a policeman it is a crime.

Source?

[Delfos]

If you call pig to a policeman it is a crime.

Source?

Articles 180-189 of the Portuguese Penal Code refer to "Publicity or (verbal) Injuries" states in Article 187 that if you have no proof of what things you claim "colectives, organisms or services" have wrongly made against the law then your crime has a 6 month sentence to fine of 240 days (our penal code doesn't say you have to pay money, but the court will set a fine regarding the sentence). It also states in previous articles which ways this actions are accepted as crime and they are very limited, like the medium they are produced, the amount of people it reaches and very technical terms to say that, unless you claim policemen (in general) raped someone in a way it reaches the press, it's not really a crime. It's safe to say nobody has been jailed for verbal aggression towards a "service".

Artigo187.º
Ofensa a pessoa colectiva, organismo ou serviço

1 - Quem, sem ter fundamento para, em boa fé, os reputar verdadeiros, afirmar ou propalar factos inverídicos, capazes de ofenderem a credibilidade, o prestígio ou a confiança que sejam devidos a pessoa colectiva, instituição, corporação, organismo ou serviço que exerça autoridade pública, é punido com pena de prisão até 6 meses ou com pena de multa até 240 dias.

Article 190 onwards are about privacy rights and claim people can sue others as I was saying they can, but also has similar restrictions (downgraded) restrictions as the previous part about "collectives, organisms or service".

I personally know of cases of arrest for verbal aggression to the police but it never reached "crime" status afaik, and they are pretty common, I've seen Cops tv show.

[Delfos]

idk if it helps the discussion but this piece on a current blackmail charge is neat: http://www.euronews.com/2015/11/05/benzema-placed-under-investigation-on-blackmail-charges/

[St Oz]

There are the right and wrong times to be offensive/offended. Growing up and talking to people is finding out those boundaries. There's a context for anything.

People bitch online too much. Expecting 3 billion internet users to participate on the web and cater to your world view is fucking stupid. I might as well try to find solutions for teaching raccoons not to eat garbage.

If you're ever mad about something some nobody said on the internet, tell yourself Get a life