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Farah calls on PM to crack down on Twitter abuse

undertaker

Coach
Messages
10,816
http://au.sports.yahoo.com/league/n...h-calls-on-pm-to-crack-down-on-twitter-abuse/

Rugby league star Robbie Farah has called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to crack down on online abuse after he received an offensive message on Twitter.
The Wests Tigers skipper reacted angrily last night to a tweet about his mother, .
Canberra full-back Josh Dugan received abuse from the same individual.
The offending Twitter user's account and message have since been deleted.
Farah () then tweeted Ms Gillard, appealing for similar measures to the ones that allowed British authorities for making offensive remarks about Olympic diver Tom Daley's deceased father.
"We all need to make a stand and get these scums off Twitter. The laws are piss weak and people should be accountable for their comments," Farah wrote.
"We need to take some action and change these soft laws. People need to be accountable for their comments. #makeastand."
He later tweeted: "Sorry @JuliaGillard I just heard the terrible news about your father. Very sorry for your loss. Prayers are with you."
The incident comes after television presenter .
New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell says he will speak with the state's Police Commissioner about the issue today.
"I think it's unacceptable, whether it's a star footballer or whether it's an average citizen out there, to get either racist, defamatory or other inciteful messages from someone who thinks they can do it anonymously," he said this morning.
NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher says he will speak with police about cracking down on online abuse and agrees the Federal Government needs to intervene.
"It's pretty clear that they're appropriately named twitters because they're coming from twits," he said.
"As I said about a week ago, honestly, these clowns who hide behind their keyboards in their mother's basements thinking they can send offensive messages, [we've] got to empower police with the ability to replace their keyboards with handcuffs."

Interested to hear your thoughts on this one
 

DJShaksta

First Grade
Messages
7,226
If you join twitter you open yourself up to it.
If Robbie doesn't like it he doesn't have to take part.
 

Big Sam

First Grade
Messages
8,976
Have you read what the merkin wrote? One of the most vile things I've ever read about a deceased person.

I'm all for the freedom of the individual to express themselves freely but this f**khead crossed a line. Not only that but the one they wrote to Dugan could easily lead to them being charged for threatening something.
 
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DJShaksta

First Grade
Messages
7,226
Have you read the tweet that was directed at Robbie? It might change your mind.

I feel bad for Robbie and I genuinely despise the person that did it.
But to be in twitter is to open yourself up to crap like that.
Stay off twitter - no problems
 
Messages
607
He's just another guy on a totally open public forum, you can't hide and if someone doesn't like you whether they know you or not you are open for abuse. People can be cruel sometimes, just look at yourselves on this forum at times when things get heated, its the same thing.

Sure the person who said what he/she said was nasty, if he wants to avoid it, he should stop using Twitter, delete it or just ignore it and move on.
 

ouwet

Bench
Messages
3,787
Can someone PM me with the tweet?? I do agree with Robbie Farah, Fwits that cross a line should be held accountable.
 

Cumberland Throw

First Grade
Messages
6,441
Celebrities make a shit load of money out of self promotion on twitter

One Aussie tourism company was paying sports stars with more than 10k followers, $1000 cash for 1 retweet last year.

I don't condone the abuse, but if your going to use it for self promotion you can't moan about it when it doesn't quiet work out
 

Big Sam

First Grade
Messages
8,976
Dan Ginnane took a photo of the tweets and put it up on his twitter.

(Hope I don't get into trouble for saying where to find it)
 

undertaker

Coach
Messages
10,816
If you join twitter you open yourself up to it.
If Robbie doesn't like it he doesn't have to take part.

I agree with this.

I'm not saying that what that person said was a good thing. I'm sure it wasn't. However, where do you draw the line is a very subjective matter and it is going to vary a lot from person to person. What, so are we going to start kicking fans out of RL games for saying "Oh, you're a crap player! You're a choker!" And what's to say that the people making the accusations of 'bad taste' have themselves not said things that are in bad taste during the past? See, a lot of people who bring these sort of accusations forward are of the mentality that it's ok to have one set of rules that apply to everyone, but when it comes to you those very standards don't apply

The only thing that I do agree that most people have an agreeance on is defamatory comments (e.g. "person X is a paedophile/thief etc."), hence why there are defamation laws which are already in place that prevent that sort of comment that can damage someone's reputation

As Clench Tightley once said, "If you can't handle the heat, don't be an arsonist"
 
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Alan Johnson

Juniors
Messages
1,790
What would the law have to say if this joker had said it to Farah in person? Could it be construed as a threat perhaps?
 

veggiepatch1959

First Grade
Messages
9,841
Definitely not appropriate to be posted here

Maybe the words "DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT" are not a part of some people's vocabulary.

From experience, any type of social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc., are dangerous.

In 2006, I had a false identity created by a disgruntled ex. Using my full name, she created an account with personal details (address, date of birth and so on) in Yahoo Messenger. False details included being a cocaine dealer and supplier of porn to minors, including my son.

This was reported to the NSW Police who said they couldn't do much about it and it would cost $100,000s to launch legal action wthout any chance of success.

My employer (NSW Government at the time) caught wind of this, and due to the sensitive nature of my employment, I was subjected to numerous internal and independent inquiries, winding up in a 169 page official report.

It all ended up with my duties to certain sections of the community being prohibited.

So, if you venture into these social media traps, do so at your own risk. Understandably, I have never undertaken an social media account since 2006 and do not intend to do so in the future.
 

undertaker

Coach
Messages
10,816
I just read those comments on Dan Ginnane's twitter and although yes, I admit the comments are definitely in bad taste and no one would appreciate having those comments said about their parents, I've heard hundreds of people during my life in school/university say things that are a lot worse than that. So then, where does this so called proposed law apply with them? I read comments here on LeagueUnlimited which use lots of profanity and relentless sledging of members on issues that are completely unrelated to the thread. Are we going to also clamp down on that as well?

If the person said something that was in any way threatening to an individual's safety (e.g. coming to their house to kill them), that must be taken seriously. There is a difference between maxpower118 saying "I HOPE your girlfriend gets raped" and "I am coming to your place right now to rape your girlfriend". The intent is definitely specified in the second quote
 
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