When should digital messages constitute a criminal offence?

[MuggedByReality]

   
       
        This blog post and the comments section -where I go by the alias of DavidB- sets the scene:
                 http://bellagerens.com/2011/08/17/british-justice/#comment-10379

[ninwa]

Comments posted on the internet should not be treated any differently by the law than comments made elsewhere

[MuggedByReality]

   I chose a poor thread title. The more interesting debate is about whether or not incitement or conspiracy to crime should be offences.

[ninwa]

Conspiracy to commit crime is already an offence (here, anyway) and I think, rightly so.

Incitement would depend to some extent on the intention of the accused and the comment itself. "Fuck China, shoot them all" would be different from "This Chinese church is meeting at this time on this day, I bet they're discussing how to take over society <etc>, if you were to blow it up you'd really be doing a society a favour".

Not sure if this is what you meant?

[MuggedByReality]

  Here are the relevant comments:

 Me: "Of course, musing that “stealing is fine” shouldn’t ever be an offence. On the other hand, some digital comments should definitely constitute crime -imagine I knew hrothgar was walking along with something well worth stealing and I tipped off some criminally inclined friends as to his whereabouts.
Where to draw the line is what we should be considering. I’d argue that it should depend on how instrumental the comments are to the crime. So, indeed, a vague “Get 2 Clapham 4 free stuff and a chance to rumble!!!” should not be an offence, but, if a clear causative link can be established, charges should be made."

Her:  "And if your friends then failed to rob hrothgar, would you still be guilty of a crime?

Conversely, suppose you told some friends in all innocence where hrothgar was, and unbeknownst to you they went and robbed him? Would your lack of criminal intention then absolve you?

You see the silly destinations to which this criminalisation of speech leads us?"

Me: "You’re right, there is a distinct slippery slope in the authoritarian direction, (although strict adherence to the presumption of innocence should mitigate against unfortunate miscarriages of justice.) However, the total non-criminalisation of any form of incitement leads us to equally farcical scenarios; imagine an act of terrorism was traced back to the perpetrator’s psychological indoctrination at the hands of one ideologue. That individual, if not brought to justice, would be at perfect liberty to repeat the process."