6 ms·

I wonder how far we are away from people being arrested for holding up blank pieces of paper.

dgellow 3mo ago
Happened in 2023 in the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_paper_protest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_paper_protest
- graemep 3mo ago
  The UK case involved him being "lead away" by police and "detained" when he returned and spoke so not really an arrest for holding up a blank piece of paper. Not good by any means, but not quite "for holding up a blank piece of paper". The other UK case was about a threat of arrest if he wrote on the paper - that is under the law that bans protests in Parliament Square. Again, not good, but not for holding up a blank piece of paper.
  - dgellow 3mo ago
    I thought detainment was a lighter kind of arrest. Seems that I’m wrong and they are distinct concepts (I’m not too familiar with the English terminology here, my bad)
    - skeledrew 3mo ago
      When someone is detained, they're just a person of interest wanted for questioning. When they're arrested, it's because they've actually been charged for something.
      - iAMkenough 3mo ago
        In the U.S. you can be “detained” for days or weeks for having brown skin. It’s called a Kavanaugh Stop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavanaugh_stop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavanaugh_stop
      - graemep 3mo ago
        Its more complex than that. Arrest is fairly straightforward, but you can be arrested and released without charge (e.g. Peter Mandelson was). Detaining is not something I really understanding, but from what I have read it is using restraint of some sort without arrest and not really something police seem to have any special powers to do (whereas their powers of arrest are greater than those of other people).
- mrhottakes 3mo ago
  The facts in your link contradict your post
reactordev 3mo ago
I mean, if we are going to go after people for their tweets and posts, there’s a social network that needs crawling…
trelane 3mo ago
Or praying silently to yourself in a No Praying Zone!

Happened in 2023 in the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_paper_protest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_paper_protest

graemep 3mo ago
The UK case involved him being "lead away" by police and "detained" when he returned and spoke so not really an arrest for holding up a blank piece of paper. Not good by any means, but not quite "for holding up a blank piece of paper". The other UK case was about a threat of arrest if he wrote on the paper - that is under the law that bans protests in Parliament Square. Again, not good, but not for holding up a blank piece of paper.
- dgellow 3mo ago
  I thought detainment was a lighter kind of arrest. Seems that I’m wrong and they are distinct concepts (I’m not too familiar with the English terminology here, my bad)
  - skeledrew 3mo ago
    When someone is detained, they're just a person of interest wanted for questioning. When they're arrested, it's because they've actually been charged for something.
    - iAMkenough 3mo ago
      In the U.S. you can be “detained” for days or weeks for having brown skin. It’s called a Kavanaugh Stop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavanaugh_stop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavanaugh_stop
    - graemep 3mo ago
      Its more complex than that. Arrest is fairly straightforward, but you can be arrested and released without charge (e.g. Peter Mandelson was). Detaining is not something I really understanding, but from what I have read it is using restraint of some sort without arrest and not really something police seem to have any special powers to do (whereas their powers of arrest are greater than those of other people).
mrhottakes 3mo ago
The facts in your link contradict your post

reactordev 3mo ago

I mean, if we are going to go after people for their tweets and posts, there’s a social network that needs crawling…

trelane 3mo ago

Or praying silently to yourself in a No Praying Zone!