zlacker

> But on the other hand there genuinely have been many people arrested (and in some cases convicted) under these laws for statements that are shockingly milquetoast.

Care to name some?

The vast majority of cases I've looked into end up being a lot more than the initially presented "They Were Arrested For Saying Bad Words On The Internet!" story pushed on the internet.

In fact, I can't remember a single one where there wasn't a lot more, but that's not really more than anecdote.

>>kimixa+(OP)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-46959556... is one example of a successful prosecution.

There are many more cases of harassment by the police or arrests, the most recent example that comes to mind being Graham Linehan. These are clearly not as bad as prosecutions, but still create a chilling effect.

>>kimixa+(OP)
A number of people have been arrested, charged and convicted for things that were very obviously jokes - tasteless jokes, offensive jokes, but still just jokes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter_joke_trial

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Dankula

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/glasgow-bin...

>>oncall+V1
Linehan was arrested for inciting violence. He encouraged people to punch trans women.

>>kimixa+(OP)
Here's one - happy to hear about the lots more:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9dj1zlvxglo