Jo Brand - Hate Speech vs Free Speech

[Baron99]

I watched Jo Cox's sister, Kim Leadbeater being interviewed on Calendar the other night, promoting her tv programme about whether the UK was more divided than in previous decades(?) and 'joke' Jo Brand came up with was discussed & what the consequences should be? 

 

Leadbeater's response, (para phrasing) "Well who are we to be the arbitors of what is funny or offensive?" 

 

Well I come away from that statement that it doesn't really matter because it it clearly wasn't directed at any politicians from the left. 

 

I see that Jo Brand has now apologised & said that her joke was" Crass and ill judged" but it has been removed from the repeat of the show, a move that I subsequently been criticised by the David Bediel  who thought up the show as "Pathetic" for pandering to public / social media pressure. 

[I1L2T3]

13 hours ago, Robin-H said:

No I wasn’t. 

 

I was making the point that it is unfair that the consequences in those cases are different. I’m not sure how that is totalitarian. 

That’s the point. You were talking about equality of punishment. Totalitarian regimes have come up with a few core ways to achieve that.

 

How long before our political extremists come up with the idea of special prisons for dissenting comedians, journalists etc... Not far away from certain groups thinking that’s a good idea IMO

[WiseOwl182]

22 minutes ago, I1L2T3 said:

That’s the point. You were talking about equality of punishment. Totalitarian regimes have come up with a few core ways to achieve that.

 

How long before our political extremists come up with the idea of special prisons for dissenting comedians, journalists etc... Not far away from certain groups thinking that’s a good idea IMO

He wasn't, he was saying that whatever the punishment for jokes against left wing politics, the same punishment should be in place for jokes against right wing politics. It doesn't matter if that punishment is nothing at all, it's about addressing the double standards of organisations like the BBC, who treat similar misdemeanours differently according to whether the recipient agrees with their political agenda. That's "dodgy ground", when a publicly funded media organisation has a biased political agenda.

[Cyclone]

But jokes that are deemed racist are different to jokes about politicians and assault.  Hence why the outcome is different.

[francypants]

41 minutes ago, Cyclone said:

But jokes that are deemed racist are different to jokes about politicians and assault.  Hence why the outcome is different.

Agree.      

[WiseOwl182]

57 minutes ago, Cyclone said:

But jokes that are deemed racist are different to jokes about politicians and assault.  Hence why the outcome is different.

So it's the target that matters rather than the joke? Presumably the BBC would be ok for people to joke about attacks on left wing politicians too then. What about a racist joke about a politician? Would that be worse than a joke about permanently disfiguring and potentially killing one? Who makes these ground rules? 

[JamesR123]

Of all the "jokes" that have caused trouble recently (Sargon, Mark Meehan, Jess Phillips and Danny Baker), Jo Brand's is by far the most distasteful and dangerous.

 

The reason I think this is because she was commenting on a recent violent (low level) waive of crime targeted against a specific type of person (right wing figures) and jokingly suggested increasing the level of violence.

 

Now I don't think she should have faced legal consequences, nor much of a public backlash.

 

However, my problem is the selective offensive claimed by the media and many on the left.  

[Robin-H]

2 hours ago, I1L2T3 said:

That’s the point. You were talking about equality of punishment. Totalitarian regimes have come up with a few core ways to achieve that.

 

How long before our political extremists come up with the idea of special prisons for dissenting comedians, journalists etc... Not far away from certain groups thinking that’s a good idea IMO

I have no idea how you've managed to extrapolate that from my posts. I think that takes slippery slope to the extreme! WiseOwl has managed to correctly deduce my point. I'm not commenting on what the punishment is (but if you care to read my posts you'll see I said I don't think there should be a punishment) - I was commenting on the current unfair inequality in the consequences.  

[Janus]

3 hours ago, Cyclone said:

But jokes that are deemed racist are different to jokes about politicians and assault.  Hence why the outcome is different.

There is a key point with the Jo Brand issue.

We all know it is a joke. However some feel that it could increase the risk of acid attacks. Many  acid attacks have been against Asian women. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[beefface]

23 hours ago, Pettytom said:

Is this the same Marti Caine who specialised in racist jokes?

 

Give me Jo Brand any day. Caine’s act was  often revolting

How dare you! This woman strode like a flame haired colossus across the landscape of 70’s and 80’s light entertainment.