The significant development is that Meechan has received notice that, if he does not pay £800 by tomorrow, The Crown will seize the amount in cash or assets by any means necessary. In retrospect, I should have put this information as an addendum to the post itself, rather than a comment (which has now become buried).
Due to time constraints ( news generally ceases to be new in less than 48 hours), I simply pulled a post I already had waiting in my docket which related to the case.
I think it is important for the STEEM community to pay close attention to how the Meechan case plays out. Since it is effectively impossible to forcibly remove information from the blockchain, we take what might be a false sense of security in the idea that this is a censorship free platform. Meanwhile, Western governments are testing the waters as to means to intimidate the populace into self-censorship (using tactics already practiced by more authoritarian regimes such as Turkey and China).
Whenever STEEM comes onto the radar of powerful states and corporations, I predict that they will seek to control it indirectly by targeting individuals in this fashion.
Mark Meechan
Markus Meechan is a Scottish YouTuber, originally from Coatbridge. Meechan, known online as Count Dankula, received considerable press coverage when he posted a video of a dog raising its paw in the manner of a Nazi salute and reacting to the prompt "Do you wanna gas the Jews?". Meechan was subsequently arrested and convicted of being "grossly offensive" under the Communications Act 2003 in March 2018. This arrest generated controversy and discussions about free speech.
An overview of the ongoing case can be read here:
https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/Nazi_pug
or here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Meechan
The significant development is that Meechan has received notice that, if he does not pay £800 by tomorrow, The Crown will seize the amount in cash or assets by any means necessary. In retrospect, I should have put this information as an addendum to the post itself, rather than a comment (which has now become buried).
Due to time constraints ( news generally ceases to be new in less than 48 hours), I simply pulled a post I already had waiting in my docket which related to the case.
I think it is important for the STEEM community to pay close attention to how the Meechan case plays out. Since it is effectively impossible to forcibly remove information from the blockchain, we take what might be a false sense of security in the idea that this is a censorship free platform. Meanwhile, Western governments are testing the waters as to means to intimidate the populace into self-censorship (using tactics already practiced by more authoritarian regimes such as Turkey and China).
Whenever STEEM comes onto the radar of powerful states and corporations, I predict that they will seek to control it indirectly by targeting individuals in this fashion.
Mark Meechan
Markus Meechan is a Scottish YouTuber, originally from Coatbridge. Meechan, known online as Count Dankula, received considerable press coverage when he posted a video of a dog raising its paw in the manner of a Nazi salute and reacting to the prompt "Do you wanna gas the Jews?". Meechan was subsequently arrested and convicted of being "grossly offensive" under the Communications Act 2003 in March 2018. This arrest generated controversy and discussions about free speech.
Good info, ty.