The Staggers

The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog

Twitter revolts!

"I am Spartacus" trends as Twitter responds in solidarity to Paul Chambers losing his appeal.

By Duncan Robinson Published 12 November 2010 18:59

Twitter is in revolt after Paul Chambers yesterday lost his appeal against a conviction for sending a menacing electronic communication.

Chambers sent the following tweet publicly over the social networking website:

"Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!"

This flippant and foolish comment has so far cost Chambers his job, a £1,000 fine and given him a criminal record, which he had hoped his appeal would remove. Judge Jacqueline Davies, however, upheld the judgement, calling Chambers an "unimpressive witness" and declaring that he "could not be unaware of the possible consequences."

She also claimed that: "Any ordinary person reading this would see it in that way and be alarmed."

If Judge Davies is to be believed, then, ordinary people would do well to steer clear of Twitter for the next few days, as thousands of Twitter users have copied Chambers' offending tweet, with the hashtag #IAmSpartacus.

Twitter is currently very alarming, with new tweets appearing every minute threatening to blow up South Yorkshire's main airport.

In Spartacus, those who cried out in solidarity with the slave leader faced crucifixion too. Thankfully, these brave tweeters face no such threat. Chambers was charged with sending a "menacing" message. The menace is apparently lost when thousands of people copy it, however, and thus no law has been broken. Robin Hood Airport is safe for now.

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Tags: twitter

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25 comments

Sat, 2010-11-13 02:48 — Hans Castorp (not verified)

I blame David Allen Green. If he spent more time prepring for this case and less time blogging tripe about firefighters then maybe Mr Chambers would have fared better. Just joking.

But I note no self-promotional blog post on the NS, in a change from the emergent trend.

Yes, Dan, he is one and the same - tragic isn't it. He has a track record of being on the wrong side of anything to do with civil liberties, freedoms of speech, and all that. Just as well he's a clapped-out also-ran.

Sat, 2010-11-13 09:43 — Kate (not verified)

Paul Chambers must be counting his lucky stars right now that he has been stopped from starting World War 3...I am sure he was just days away from that too...clearly the airport comment was just a trial run for world domination

Sat, 2010-11-13 10:08 — Hayes (not verified)

Paul Chambers.
The Police who thought it was a good idea to arrest him.
The CPS who thought it was a good idea to prosecute.
The judge that thought it was it was necessary to take 'this route'.
They all get on with their lives.

Meanwhile, out in the Cosmos, intelligent aliens monitoring Earth continue to be spoilt for choice in their search for challenging 'spot the knob' competitions.

Sun, 2010-11-14 11:44 — Tommy Danger (not verified)

I see this episode as an example of our antiquated legal system practitioners trying to keep pace with modern inventions like the Internet or mobile phone texting and in the process making some totally irrational judgements. I agree that the nation is quietly paranoid about where and when the next terrorist attack is going to happen in our country, and the way to monitor this is by surveillance including monitoring of digital messages - but it doesn't take a public school educated Oxbridge graduate with a whig on his/her head to realise that the ruling passed on Chambers was wrong. By all means, give him a slap on the wrist, but don't ruin his career.
Don't you get the feeling that we've all been cheated - what with sanctimonious politicians in the US and UK leading us into wars in distant lands on the lie of protecting our freedoms and democracy. What a joke.

Sat, 2010-11-13 11:11 — edge_of_the_map (not verified)

I am an ordinary person.
The only menace I can see in this case is that the CPS and the judiciary feel entitled to bend and stretch the law.
We are entitled to make jokes with our friends. We are not obliged to live in fear, self-censoring in case the State doesn't like what we say.
That Jacqueline Davies has acted like a puppet of a dictatorship is truly menacing, and I think she should be arrested.

Sat, 2010-11-13 11:58 — Hayes (not verified)

I am extraordinary person.

http://flay.jellybee.co.uk/2010/11/open-letter-to-judge-jacqueline-davie...

Sat, 2010-11-13 11:59 — Hayes (not verified)

I am AN extraordinary person, that should have been.

Obviously.

Oh, yeah, send me to jail for sloppy typing.

Sat, 2010-11-13 12:03 — them00ch (not verified)

I'm with swatantra nandanwar on this one. This time it was a fairly harmless joke, but next time Paul Chambers could be using his computer hacking skills to disable the vault security in the Nakatomi Plaza while his cohorts terrorise the building's office workers.

Sat, 2010-11-13 12:41 — Paulson Paulson (not verified)

This is Judge Jaqueline Davies (the pensioner on the right):
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cVwTpYpAr5A/SctQYuPtBmI/AAAAAAAAEqA/pQj3K_fhPq...

Sun, 2010-11-14 17:43 — How Tenji (not verified)

I don't have a twitter account so can I use these pages to say that I have no plan whatsoever to blow up Robin Hood Airport in the next week.

Fri, 2010-11-12 19:10 — Simon (not verified)

Why is the menace lost? Surely it's x times more menacing. Unless the CPS realise they're all taking the piss. But then that realisation is ten months late.

Sat, 2010-11-13 23:08 — Dave Harvey (not verified)

Why, oh why, didn't he insist on trial by jury? - not only would it have been impossible for anyone to find 12 people to agree unamimously that he was guilty, but also, when they realised that, CPS would probably in fact have dropped the case before reaching court.

Sat, 2010-11-13 23:30 — potdurocher (not verified)

It comes to something when a stupid joke leads to this. Mayb he was over the top but surely common sense could have prevailed

Fri, 2010-11-12 22:10 — swatantra nandanwar

Serves Chambers right for being a right idiot. The Judge summed upwhat all sensible people thought of Chambers. He's got a criminal record. Well its saved him from even greater follies like tapping into the Pentagon Defence System and scaring the hell out of them and almost preciptating WW3. He should be thankful that he got off so lightly, and will be an example to others, I hope.

Sun, 2010-11-14 00:55 — Hans Castorp (not verified)

Dave Harvey

Ha! Excellent point! You'll have to ask Mr Green (of this parish) that.

Sat, 2010-11-13 00:29 — badblokebob (not verified)

Thanks, Swatantra Nandanwar, I haven't laughed that hard for days.

At least, for the sake of your mental faculty, I hope you were joking.

Sat, 2010-11-13 00:31 — Dan (not verified)

Are you this Swatantra Nandawar? http://www.labourlist.org/ppc_profile_swatantra__nandanwar Because your comment is quite mad.

Sat, 2010-11-13 00:32 — Heath B. (not verified)

I'm sorry but I was genuinely scared. Really frightened...when I heard the judgement and realised our judiciary is mad

Sat, 2010-11-13 00:32 — Alan Law (not verified)

no matter how hard I try I cant seem to rearrange swatantra nandanwar to make bell end...yet it seems like I should be able to. #confused

Sat, 2010-11-13 00:33 — @tomincognito (not verified)

You sir, are irrelevant.

Sun, 2010-11-14 01:47 — gen59

maybe you can find answers here:

=== http://tinyurl.com/23lm6pa =====

Sat, 2010-11-13 00:33 — 1nothingspecial (not verified)

swatantra nandanwar, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ON??? If anything, his case should be an example to everyone how the law does not protect people, but persecutes them, and how this country is going to hell. And on the day when we celebrated the people who died so we have the right to free speech. Truly sickening.

Sat, 2010-11-13 00:47 — Bob (not verified)

Oh dear Swatantra - like the CPS and two judges, you too have failed to understand that this was NEVER a bomb threat, or a hoax, or even a misguided prank, or indeed ever intended to be read by anyone at the airport at all, it's just a quirk of Twitter's particular publish/subscribe model that something Paul wrote out of flippant frustration meant for JUST HIS SUBSCRIBED FRIENDS to read, was also available for a public search, which is how it was sadly found and unfortunately escalated through a chain of pious jobsworths. Like the judge, you appear to still mistakenly think he meant to menace the airport, despite the fact that he didn't at any time send the message to them or intend it to be read by them.

You are demonstrating, in a nutshell, how this miscarriage of justice happened, and why it has provoked the massively widespread outraged response that it has today.