Count Dankula Fights Back
In an earlier post, “What Is The Cost Of Free Speech? £800, According To Scottish Law”, I discussed how the YouTuber, Count Dankula, was convicted of a “hate crime” in Scotish court for training his girlfriends pug to act like a Nazi to annoy her.
He was sentenced to pay an £800 fine.
He avoided prison, which was a bit of a relief to me because I really am not ready for that level of authoritarianism in a country so similar to my own (US). But he was still fined and convicted of a terrible crime.
Well, in this ironically uplifting video post-trial, Dank explains that he in no way intends to pay this fine, and, in fact, will fight to get it repealed as it sets president for further abuse.
He was prepared to go to jail rather than admit that he did anything wrong, but he didn't get that opportunity.
Why this is important
There are a number of reasons why this is important that scale from local to international.
Firstly, the English Common Law (as far as I understand it, which isn’t very far) is a legal precedent-based system. This means is that a precedent or authority is a legal case that establishes a principle or rule. This principle or rule is then used by the court or other judicial bodies use when deciding later cases with similar issues or facts.
A case or issue decided by a court that can be used to help answer future legal questions.
In practical terms it means that anything the courts have decided upon in the past now act as a rule to decide cases of a similar nature. So, the next time someone in the UK says something that the government arbitrarily deems “grossly” offensive, they’ve committed a crime.
You can see, of course, what sort of authoritarian terror this leads to.
Secondly, this sets up a global social precedent as well.
People are constantly referencing the way that other countries do things as an example of what should be done in their county. It is easy to completely miss the nuance of national or local laws and customs and missapply them to your own culture.
For instance, in Japan people don’t lock up their bikes, and you can find cell phones sitting on public tables, because the culture in Japan is one of simple respect for property. If someone steals, it is a much greater social risk than in a place like America. As much as we would like to have the experience of being able to leave our bikes unattended in public without them being stolen, it simply isn’t the culture we live in here in America.
Similarly, there are people who will only see a headline like “Man Convicted Of Hate Crime For Spreading Anti-Semitic Propaganda”, and think such a precedent is reason enough for them to adopt similar policy in their own countries, without knowing anything about this case and that it is actually an egregious violation of free speech and creeping totalitarian abuse.
I mean, I hear things like this all the time: “If only we adopted a quasi-socialist system like Sweden, we would be so much better off!” Such a view completely ignores the nuances that distinguish Sweden from other places; things like culture, demographics, economics, the fact that they don’t have a military and are completely protected by the US and thus don’t have such a massive expenditure in their national budget.
You know, things like that.
So the Count is right to fight this to the fullest extent possible.
How you can help
Dankula has set up a gofundme campaign:
Fund The Count Dankula Appeal.
Don’t worry about it reaching its goal -- the goal was £100,000, which it blew through in less than a day. The total currently sits at £144,191.
What I want you to do is -- well, donate if you can, because every little bit counts -- spread this story around to everyone you know online and show your support for free speech.
As described in the campaign:
This conviction will be used as an example to convict other people over the things they say and the jokes they make, it sets a standard where courts will be able to willfully ignore the context and intent of a persons words and actions in order to punish them and brand them as criminals.
This is the amount that has been quoted by my lawyer, the reason it has been quoted so high is my lawyer wishes to bring in top legal representatives to ensure that we have the highest chance of reversing the standard that this case sets, I cannot allow the 2 years of litigation I went through and having my life put on hold, to happen to anyone else.
I will be 100% transparent with these funds, all bills in regards to the case will be made publicly available.
Let’s all come together on this and bring back that old liberal maxim
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
What do you think?
Tell me what your thoughts are on this.
Did you know about the case of Count Dankula and his girlfriend’s Nazi pug?
Will you be supporting his campaign?
Let me know in the comments.
Images not from the gofundme campaign are from https://pixabay.com
De dude deserves respect for training a Chinese pug.
I doubt its feasibility.
You got a 29.63% upvote from @sleeplesswhale courtesy of @stimialiti!
You got a 16.67% upvote from @luckyvotes courtesy of @stimialiti!
I read the post on your blog about this crappy decision by the court. I haven't followed this story on the regular media outlets and I think there was little point in looking at a story that was already shown thorough a colored lens.
Glad that you followed through with this story. On one hand we have to wonder at the extent of stupidity that legal system is willing to allow - depressing as hell. On the other hand this guy taking a stand against it shows some character on his part and hope for all of us.
The stupidity of it all makes the situation even more dire. Nowhere in the process of prosecuting this guy did anyone with clout say "Hey guys, are we really doing this? I mean doesn't this seem kind of dumb for us to do? Guys?" The combine has no driver.
I love Count Dankula’s sense of humor without people like him our world would be so depressing and dreary 😔 the more offensive and satirical the better
I actually never heard of the guy up until he came in news a few days ago. You are right about his humor :-)
A riot!
I learned about him from his video on tumblr genders. Hilarious.
World war 2 was probably the very worst humans have ever behaved. I don't think it was a laughing matter then, now or ever will be. Not the death camps, anyway. He's an attention-seeking nobody and has his 15 minutes. Hopefully, he'll crawl back under a stone soon enough.
Sure, people who were going to find it offensive didn't have to look. But then I'm sure he could have found a better medium to release it where only his intended audience would have got to see it. That's if the whole point wasn't to offend such people after all. But I'm fairly sure he did intend to offend.
Let's face it, it was crap. And only a moron could find funny a grown man repeating a couple of dumb expressions to a dumb dog.
So, on this rare occasion, I have to support the British legal system.
But then, he did want this. He wanted to offend people. Trolls do that kind of thing, don't they? I hope his life improves, either way. For I'm fairly sure no healthy normal person would have ever considered making such a pointless video.
I've said several times before that I didn't find the joke funny. In fact, I was probably close to being offended by it, personally. So there's that.
However, if you think he wanted this you simply don't know enough about the case.
He posted this video when his channel was very small, about as big as my YouTube channel currently is (not even 10,000 followers). It essentially was a quiet little place. And for months nobody cared about it. Until, suddenly, at some point long down the road, the guy started getting a little more notoriety, and the people who are paid to dig through the past of their political enemies looking for an outrage to publicize found this video and brought it to light.
It's not like he was blasting this video all over social media. He's an edgy boi who posts edgy vids for other people who like edgy content. Honestly, I had seen some of his videos before this whole thing blew up and I would say I thought about 75% of them were trash with a few occasional gems, and I also perennially got the impression that the guy in no way takes anything seriously, including himself and his content.
You don't like the guy personally, you don't like the joke, you don't like his girlfriend's dog, therefore you think he should be convicted of a crime.
I think you're also missing the bigger picture here, which is that the State arbitrarily decides what's considered "grossly" offensive after the fact. The setting of this precedent would allow the government of the UK to randomly define whatever they want as "grossly" offensive, and charge people with crimes for saying anything that they simply didn't like. It's a terrible precedent to set. What if the State decided that prayer was "grossly" offensive? Or abstract art? Or anything?
I'll tolerate a million edgy trolls over a government that gives itself the authority to charge citizens with crimes for arbitrary and selectively applied definitions of "gross".
I think with his channel he was planting seeds. And one grew to be one hell of a controversy. So, we'll have to disagree on motives behind his channel, I guess.
Don't get me wrong, the law is hardly perfect (I'm sure laws will forever be challenged as I know you'll agree). But yes, I do think he overstepped the mark and I think he knew he was doing so, with that being the idea. My mother died a couple of years ago but I don't know where she's buried as I am not in touch with certain family members any more. For whatever reason. I also know once you're dead, you're dead and your final resting place is little more than where your body gets to decompose. Now, the people who are donating to his cause... If I said I was going to piss on their mothers' graves, do you suspect none of them would get upset by that? (Even if I was just 'having a laugh'.) Personally, I imagine most would get hypocritical at this point and threaten me with violence or something. Because that's how people are. They just do not get that that is exactly how they are.
They'd soon lose their oh-so-fashionable tolerance virtue.
Freedom of speech is a fantastic idea but it does have its limitations. As it should. You can't slander / libel people freely. There are laws against that. Similarly, certain things are taboo or at least should be (at least in my humble opinion and that of a lot of other decent people). Whether the British legal system got him on a trumped-up charge of 'hate speech' is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned. I think he wanted this. And he got it.
Hell, what's going to happen to the proceeds from the gofundme site? I do hope he doesn't profit in any way from being such a low life but I do have my doubts and accept shit people often prosper in this world. But that's life.
Legal loopholes exist in a million other places and if you think this is one, fair enough, but I'd say it's one of the very last that should be closed. Hardly the first.
Do you think for a minute the British government would do as you suggest they might (in the event the furore over his court case was considerably less)? I'm fairly confident they wouldn't. They commit enough abuses against the people (with their supporters backing, half the time), I'm fairly sure they would never see any need to start getting really ridiculous. Yes, that was arbitrary too, I know.
I'm fairly sure they don't want riots and other mass actions of civil disobedience. Nobody wants that.
But as there's never going be a serious riot over this guy's predicament (or at least as things stand, there won't, nor should there be imo) the British government can lose the keys on this guy as far as I'm concerned.
Millions died in the worst possible way during world war 2. Many of them bravely fighting a monster. Others tragically as a simple result of their ethnicity. Often in truly horrific ways. There are unwritten boundaries where humour limits are concerned. There have to be. Or at least that's what I feel (and again, many others will, also).
It's probably not worth starting WW 3 over but, well.... ;)
Let's not pretend like slander and libel are part of the free speech argument. Those are acts against a person that lie and/or seek to damage someone's reputation. Dank's video was nothing of the sort. It did not single out any person and it did not lie or damage anyone's reputation.
This wasn't slander or libel and that's not what he was charged with.
He was charged with offending people. I will never accept that as a crime and will fight for the right of anyone to offend anyone else on anything.
If you are offended, nothing happens. Your body or property are not damaged. If you're offended you should be perfectly able to continue on with your day. A video placed on an open platform is only viewed by choice. If you are offended by his video it's because you chose to watch it -- nobody forced you to.
It's not a crime and any government that considers it a crime is an authoritarian abuser.
Forget slander and libel, then.
Suppose:
All your family members die the most horrible death you can imagine. Uberprick comes running up to you thinking it's funny (for whatever reason). He (/she) has a real loud voice and there's not really anywhere for you to run. At which point do the jokes wear thin? NEVER??? Incidentally - You can't physically attack, that would be assault / ABH / GBH / attempted murder / murder (delete as appropriate).
You're a law-abiding citizen, say.
What's the difference between this little hypothetical and what Scottish git's guilty of? You know, freedom of speech-wise and all that?
I personally don't see one.
At a push, I suppose you could argue you'd be justified in attacking such a person through provocation. But then there's Mr eighty-year-old Scottish jew who grew up never knowing his parents as Hitler had them murdered.
He could take the law into his own hands and put a bullet through Scottish git's eye, say, but that's hardly desirable is it? We can't have members of the public murdering those whose sense of humour differs from theirs, can we?
So, simple common sense should prevail and Scottish git should grow up / be made to grow up. It really is that simple.
My mother and grandmother died of cancer. People make jokes about people dying of cancer. When I see people say on social media (which they often do) "I hope you die of cancer", I think about my mom.
It makes me sad.
YOU just made me think of my mom dying of cancer.
YOU should be "made to grow up" by the authority of the state.
YOU'VE committed a gross offense against me. Suffer the legal consequences.
Last I heard, cancer was a perfectly normal way to die. I was thinking of something far worse. Either way, I made a point that I felt was perfectly valid. Your comeback, well I guess you thought it valid but as I say there are many crueller ways for a life to be cut short as far as I'm concerned (as I'm sure many would agree). Eg. murder / murder by Nazis.
The rule of law as you opened with earlier is arbitrary and kind of has to be. A lot of things in life are hardly absolute. A policeman can decide whether you're being drunk & disorderly after you've had a bevvie or two. Speed limits on the road - what are they about???
Us civilised beasts try to do our best but the law will never be perfect. And if an obscene monstrosity getting fined upsets a few right-on people, so be it. But what alternative would you recommend?
No laws?
We just all go round doing what the fuck we like? I'm sure you know that wouldn't be the best idea.
Please, give it up? :D
For fear of moving in circles that I don't enjoy, I know I'll have to give it up myself, either way. Knowing that I've at least made what I consider to be a pretty damned sensible point or two in an effort to sway your view, here.
How dare you try to minimize the terrible way in which my mom died.
You're crossing the line, dude.
Yeah, I thought about it and decided that it's pointless to argue with you because you are incapable of realizing that your own arguments apply to you and the way you're treating me.
People who are incapable of noticing such things are worthless in arguments.
Because of that I'm going to stop wasting time on you and mute you: it's better for my piece of mind, and my energies are really better spent elsewhere, like talking to people who are actually receptive and aware of the nature of their own arguments... or, you know, writing posts on Steemit.
Good luck to you.
Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hole....CD said..
The gassing the Jews bit, and I’m part jewish ....Just a Little dna ...was to make fun of the nazis and tease his girl friend...
Nothing more... come on people put some shoes on and stop trying to carpet the world!
This guy is kind of starting to show that he's not a very decent person... not really the type I want to spend my time trying to argue with. He doesn't listen and he doesn't see that the nature of his own arguments apply to him and what he's saying to me.
This is probably going to result in a mute on my end if he continues beeing a chode. I'm not interested in wasting my time on such people. Had enough of it on Twitter, don't want ANY of it here on Steemit.
Hey, I'm hardly the one making the mountain. The film-maker got his fine. And I'm fine with that. Your argument that what he did was making fun of the Nazis sails right over my head though. I bet there's loads of butt-hurt Nazis on the Internet these days, eh? Nah, I don't think so.
I have broad tastes in most things and like to think I have an open mind. Dark humour is the best, I'd say. But saying 'gas the jews' over and over and over again to a confused dog that only offered a puzzled expression? Frankly, I'm glad I can never accept that as any kind of humour is the last I'll say on the matter. It's a shame shayne didn't appreciate my opinion on this pretty sensitive subject. When he asked for opinions, I thought he'd be fine with someone who disagreed with him putting forward a sensible argument in the process. I was wrong there. No big deal.
The four freedoms of the first amendment (speech press assembly religion) are the most important of all the codified rights. And speech is the most important of the four. This goes beyond governmental rule, too. Even in your personal life, as soon as your words are restricted or compelled, you know tyrants are afoot.
Why every government in the world opposing the free speech!! Because they are afraid, if they let it continue, that may turn on their own. because they are not doing their best for the society. But we are paying them from our hard earnings to do that. Still they dont wanna. So, i really support this guy, everyone should stand for their rights. If not, sooner or later it will lead us to dark days for the general people.
I will donate to this worthy cause. I was taught that I am supposed to take care of my emotions not someone else’s ...if I’m insulted by someone else’s opinions or actions I can avoid them, tell them to leave me alone, or if they get really pushy mute them online or in real life give them in a good kick in the seat of their pants😂😂😂
People have turned to a bunch of whinny wimps and use the court system to harass and bully people they don’t like or agree with...
The thing that blows me away is that it's because of a YouTube video. Nobody is being forced to watch a YouTube video. These people are being told "Hey, look at this -- it's probably going to offend you" and then the click on it and sit there and watch it and bathe in how offended they feel.
Like... my God! What are you people doing with your time! If I play a video that says something that offends me -- I WATCH SOMETHING ELSE. IT'S NOT HARD, PEOPLE.
But no, they have to sit there and watch it (or, still worse, NOT watch it and be JUST AS OFFENDED), and then convict this poor guy of hate crimes because of what his video did to their poor widdle feewings.
I'm grossly offended by what these people did to Dankula! Where is MY justice???! Throw THEM in jail!
The offended people use the excuse they are protecting “other” people, when they are really just puffing up their egos and powering out on people, it’s soooo obvious how petty and ignorant these people are, they are a bunch of toddlers pretending to be adults ..
Look at our corporate news! It’s embarrasing, the lot of them are gossip mongers and back biting bitches🤭😆
This entire mess is the fruit of political correctness. Sociological control by the few. Makes me want to puke. The Chinese now have their social matrix in place. God help us if this is the future. Blessings.
Very well put!
This is so outrageous.We are living in the world where elites are deciding what we can and can't be saying.That's just ridiculous.Im sick of this shit.You can't promulgate your thoughts if they are diffrent from what govermet deems as appropriate.Of course this case is just joke since he wasn't really propagateing nazi stuff or anything.It was just a joke but he still get punished for it.This clearly shows how sick and authoritarian current system is.
Lol, in Russia he would be either in jail for a couple of years for it, or would be killed. I'm not joking. (i live in russia). In Russia one of the last sentense was for a repost in social media. They gave this man 1,5 years in jail. @shayne
Why this great grandma
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