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(not satire – it’s the UK today!)
UPDATE: Twitter has finally succumbed to the criticism and reinstated @UKJCP – but you can see here the document which proves the UK government was trying to censor on-line criticism
Yesterday the government’s gagging law was passed by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – marking yet another nail in the coffin for freedom of speech in Britain.
And as if to celebrate the occasion, a Twitter parody account that was critical of coalition policies was closed down after complaints were made from government officials.
@UKJCP – a satirical account parodying the DWP – was suspended by Twitter yesterday.
Here’s a direct warning from the Department for Work and Pensions to @UKJCP just a week before it was suspended by Twitter:
“it is not satire”. So now we’ve not just got government departments deciding what forms of public criticism are acceptable, but also deciding for us what exactly is humorous and what isn’t.
This country’s getting more and more like China every day.
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Related articles by Tom Pride:
The document which proves the UK government is censoring on-line criticism
Singaporean hacker creates free program to bypass Cameron’s internet censorship
Satire like Porn? How 3UK are bringing Chinese-style political censorship of web to UK
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Please feel free to comment .
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Pride's Purge 
Both followed.
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They’ll be banning The News Quiz next.
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I wish I could say that this was unbelievable but sadly it isn’t.
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Its a bigger problem, where people are scammed by bogus web sites, pretending to be bona-fida ticket agents, banks etc.
Controls over electronic communication are perhaps more important to protect consumers.
Yet all this fuss is about Political context, not commercial?
Why is this?
Its ok to clear your account for a pair of non existent concert tickets, and leave it to “the market” to sort out.
But government and charity sites are now to come under scrutiny of the “thought police”.
Orwellian or what?
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Sadly, it’s often up to companies such as Twitter to defend free speech rights against the actions of many governments, not just in the UK.
I think in this case the two issues are unrelated. The DWP can say what they like, but Twitter is a US company and is hosted in the US, so it’s not subject to UK laws, new or old. If they think a UK user has broken UK law then that’s a different matter, but they’ll need evidence. In these cases I suspect the accounts were closed because the users broke Twitter’s conditions, not any laws.
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I should also add that it’s not only large companies such as Twitter, it’s also individuals such as Tom Pride who defend free speech. So all credit, and my thanks, to him and people like him, who spend their time and often their money defending our rights.
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Pingback: Twitter parody accounts critical of government closed down on same day gagging law passes | Mindhacker8's Blog
Can’t Iain Duke Nukem Smith just get that blue tick celebrities get to prove it’s the real them? Or does Twitter only hand those out to people who are actually popular?
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No he can’t, because he doesn’t have a Twitter account. The DWP does have the blue tick.
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More like East Germany. The curtain twitchers of Britain will be cheering as they’re all legitimised now.
Rampant spying on the population,
the right to congregate and speech whisked away,
the use of water cannons on those that choose to congregate and protest en masse (without the police “allowing” it).
Definitely East Germany. They’ll be advertising low pay/no pay jobs in the UK Stasi next.
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‘Blue Tick’ would actually be a pretty good description of IDS.
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Reblogged this on Vox Political.
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a dark and slow sliding into a society that isn’t even superficially democratic anymore.
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Reblogged this on The Greater Fool.
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The underlying motivations on all sides never change very much, only the technology. It used to be printing presses, now it’s blogs and social media. It will always be a battle…
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This utterly ridiculous demonisation of Twitter parody accounts reminds me of the fuss in the US 30 years ago over “satanic” and “sexist” lyrics in rock music, and the attempt to get warning stickers put on albums. The version below is Frank Zappa’s take on what a warning should look like, and seems very relevant today.
“WARNING! This album contains material which a truly free society would neither fear nor suppress. The language and concepts contained herein are guaranteed not to cause eternal torment in the place where the guy with the horns and pointed stick conducts his business. This guarantee is as real as the threats of the video fundamentalists who use attacks on rock music in their attempt to transform America into a nation of check-mailing nincompoops (in the name of Jesus Christ). If there is a hell, its fires wait for them, not us.”
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And yet @ToryEducation continues…
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Reblogged this on Beastrabban’s Weblog.
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Pingback: Twitter parody accounts critical of government closed down on same day gagging law passes | Jay's Journal
Other ways will be found around it in time. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if something is already underway 🙂
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Reblogged this on Wake Up Before It's Too Late and commented:
Wake up and see what’s happening to your liberties! Satire no longer allowed…anywhere in case it upsets the government – WTF?
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Reblogged this on Ufohunterorguk.com.
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All caused by the Bilderberg group and international Jewry !
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You twat. The accounts were closed because his wife was sick of him spending all day tweeting. You’ve been mega trolled by the trolls
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@IDS_MP seems to be working OK, though @UKJCP is suspended. Checking the facts first is always a good idea!
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Reblogged this on Political Pip Spit or Swallow its up to You and commented:
Well yes it is a gagging order and it should not have happened, totally agree even if its very likely I don’t think all the tweets are at all funny and that I do think choosing a name that could be confused with the actual govt department is a less than intelligent thing to do. Being a cretin is not illegal and now apparently nor are some forms of censorship.
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It’s probably right that @UKJCP was closed down. It’s difficult enough trying to find a job without spoof sites higher up Google ranking than the real one.
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It might have been a good idea to make sure the name could not be confused with any govt department it would have removed the main and to some justifiable objection.
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Which Twitter agreement was being exceeded? Can they supply a URL and cite the section? In what way was it being ‘exceeded’? Can you only send a set number of fake RTs per month?
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Reblogged this on Glasgow Anarchist Federation.
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it dosent matter how twitter accounts they close new ones will just start up.
there wasting there time.
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You have to wonder just what it is they are so scared of that they feel it wholly necessary to restrict our freedom of expression of opinion and feelings. This I understand includes charities lobby groups, etc etc. are they scared we, the people will demand retribution for the IDS Atos and DWP promoted suicides (4000 p/a) or the bedroom tax, or the continual lies about unemployment reducing, or the constant stream of lies about how well we are doing, or the pompous wholly incompetent environment minister ( Owen Patterson) or the pay award for the wealthy following reduction in tax from 50p to 45p, or the privatisation of the NHS, or the increase in food costs set against stagnant pay awards, or the continual rise in energy costs. The short answer is YES WE WILL! And you will know about it because you will be out never to re-appear shamed and disgraced and for a few of you quite possibly Jailed!
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I shut down my accounts to get on with stuff….. Sorry to pop the conspiracy bubble
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You don’t expect anyone to actually read your comment before ranting, do you?
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doesn’t your wife ever get sick of it.
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i was enjoying that conspiracy bubble you really are a spoilsport.
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Why on earth would you close your account? The human rights bill still exists, fight back !
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Sorry to pop your bubble Skip but I wrote the DWP closed down @UKJCP not yours.
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“Can they supply a URL and cite the section? ”
Sadly not without a Freedom of Information Request, and only if its made by one person, lest they class it as “vexatious” hahaha
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I pointing this out this morning in a comment, which the author either missed or ignored.
@UKJCP redirected to /account/suspended. @skip_licker and @ids_mp both just threw up the “Page could not be found” error. The latter means that they closed the account themselves.
Amazes me how easily people get raged about things without the simplest of fact checking
That said, suspending @UKJCP is a joke in itself, so I guess it’s at least partially justified
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Reblogged this on Translation Scrapbook.
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Pingback: The DWP Parody Twitter Accounts Were Closed Because They Tell The Truth | WHEN TORIES ATTACK
How’s your bubble Tom? @Skip_Licker hasn’t been shut down, by himself or anybody else.
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FinkFurst – he closed it down himself. Twitter give you 24 hours to reactivate a closed down account. Read the blog post again. I wrote @UKJCP was suspended by Twitter – not his.
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One Twitter account was very properly closed because it was purporting to be a Job Centre and was interfering with people actually trying to find a job. Two were (apparently) briefly closed by the owner of the accounts himself.
How is this anything to do with free speech? I applaud what you do and I think many of your articles are very funny and poignant, and I have thanked you for them, but I really think you need to check some things a little better.
…and actually Twitter gives you 30 days to reactivate an account, not 24 hours.
[This is a side issue distracting from the actual points of the post which are 1) the new gagging law and 2) a government department closing down social media because it is deciding what is and what is not ‘satire’. Both of those things are true (unfortunately) and are extremely relevant to issues of freedom of speech IMO. This blog post has already been viewed by tens of thousands bringing those two things to people’s attention. So job done as far as I’m concerned.] – Tom
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“This is a side issue distracting from the actual points of the post which are 1) the new gagging law and 2) a government department closing down social media because it is deciding what is and what is not ‘satire’.”
I agree with 1) but 2) isn’t true, so my point remains.
[? The account was closed down by Twitter after a complaint by DWP. So point 2 is true. You may agree with the closing down of the account but that doesn’t make the fact it was closed down untrue!] – Tom
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P.S. I don’t mean I agree with the lobbying bill, I mean I agree that it’s another nail in the coffin of freedom of speech in Britain.
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No – “after a complaint by DWP” and “because of a complaint by DWP” do NOT mean the same thing, as you know very well!
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Tom – Maybe I should repeat what I said on another thread “If we waste our time ’tilting at windmills’ then the real evil giants will slip past unnoticed.”
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Bill hicks (you are free to do as we tell you) nothing more. we don’t like what you say and we close you down free speech don’t exsist in this corrupt free world. Polititions are scared we are gonna take there free 150k lifestyle away from them. And they try and block any attempt for us to express free speech.
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FinkFurst – I accept that is always a danger- yes.
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I’m glad we agree about that. I hope we have sufficient understanding that we don’t need to argue about what is obviously a windmill… !?!?
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Windmills can look like monsters and monsters can look like windmills. Sometimes it’s not easy to spot the difference.
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Probably you and I usually agree about which is which, but before one shouts “Monster” then I think one has a responsibility to check if the apparition is really trying to harm anyone, or it’s just providing our daily bread! You are a FAR better judge than most of the readers on here, so you have a responsibility to use your judgement…
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In the absence of a reply, I look forward to you exercising your judgement on this web site responsibly……
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As usual Tom, when you’re proved to be wrong you just hide from the issue. I NEVER hide from what I say. I will always argue my point, or admit that I’m wrong. I have no respect for anyone who can’t do the same.
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“Gagging Law”
http://www.scriptonitedaily.com/2014/01/29/the-government-just-passed-a-gagging-law-to-outlaw-critics-ahead-of-2015-elections/
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Would anyone care to name the TV program that was enormously popular and yet still pulled from the schedules never to return? Just before New Labour won in 1997 the program which had been a thorn in the side of the British ruling elite for well over a decade was pulled from the schedules and no attempt to relaunch it has ever been made- Spitting Image!
For people of a certain age that name will immediately trigger fond memories of greedy self serving politicians and bosses getting a damn good kicking on prime time TV.Nobody who ever watched will forget the image of the Two Davids,one was coming out of the others breast pocket,Regan wandering around looking for his brain or Norman Tebbit dressed as a Hell’s Angel.And as for Thatcher!
But then ,just as 13 years of New Labour abuse of power was about to begin,NOTHING! Had this program existed when Iraq was attacked,Dr Kelly murdered one day before due to give evidence critical of Tony Blair ,Gordon Brown sold off our gold at an all time low price or the MP’s expenses scandal broke with tales of moats being cleaned or duck houses being classed as parliamentary expenses then this program would have crucified them all on prime time TV! The removal of spitting Image! should have been enough warning of what was to come,it was for me!
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“This country’s getting more and more like China
every day.”
I think that tens of thousands of people in Britain would love it if the country got more like China: the citizen, denizens and slaves have a meaningful choice of ‘Work or starve’.
Tell that to someone whose benefits have been sanctioned to zero, in a town where jobseekers outnumber vacancies by two hundred and fifty to one. Or to someone on a zero-hours contract, or an ‘apprenticeship contract’ or a below-living-wage contract who find themself dependent on a foodbank: ‘work and starve’, New Britain embraces the power of ‘And’.
There are places in England where China looks like a longed-for-utopia that only fools believe in.
Perhaps the big difference is that China fears violent uprisings. I doubt that this bothers the regime in Britain, who regard dissent as an irritant.
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Are you people *really* this stupid?
The reason you Twitter accounts get suspended is that you’ve been flagged as spam, you’re either making too many unsolicited mentions or aggressively following people.
It’s not a conspiracy, no matter what wild-eyed and feverish theories you concoct
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Just need to decommission it. It’s dreadful.
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Pingback: Copywrong » UK Government Official Gets Twitter Parody Account Closed Down For Mocking Politicians And Heads Of Large Companies
This will probably get deleted (the irony…) but this is a bad article. You seem to have mistaken a request for a demand, and an organisation protecting their interests with censorship.
“Here’s a direct warning”
No, it’s a request.
“So now we’ve not just got government departments deciding what forms of public criticism are acceptable, but also deciding for us what exactly is humorous and what isn’t.”
There was no deciding of anything in the tweet. You’re trying to find something that just isn’t there.
If the account broke the Twitter rules, then who are you to say it shouldn’t be deleted? (NB. I know nothing of Twitter T&Cs)
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Dave – you won’t get deleted for commenting on this site. This is a free speech zone. Be as critical as you like of the blogposts.
You’re still wrong though! 🙂
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Pingback: My Blog – UK Government Official Gets Twitter Parody Account Closed Down For Mocking Politicians And Heads Of Large Companies
\You might want to brush up on your English, George, before calling anyone stupid.
Next you’re going to tell us that 9/11 was real.
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