British Reality TV Star Is Facing Jail Time for Making a Nasty Comment on Facebook

Ursula Presgrave

Apparently a British reality TV star who made an awful comment about people born with Down’s Syndrome on social media might be going to jail for it.

Ursula Presgrave left this comment on her Facebook page:

According to the Mirror, “Presgrave told police ‘she wanted people to notice her’ when she wrote the post,” meaning, the 23-year-old did it for attention.

However, in the UK, this isn’t something she would just get lambasted in the media for or something that would get simply ignored as a stupid, ignorant comment made by a reality star with bad judgement no one really cares about on a social media platform no one really cares about simply to get attention.

It’s considered anti-social hate speech, and people called and complained about her to the police for it.

Yes, they called the cops on her for her offensive Facebook post. They can do that in the UK.

Under suspicion of a “crime,” police seized Presgrave’s cell phone and reportedly found photos on it of slogans mocking people with Down’s Syndrome.

Presgrave was quickly charged under something called the Malicious Communications Act, which can carry a sentence of six months in jail or a £5,000 fine.

Via the Mirror:

“The first question she was asked by police was whether she knew she had committed a criminal offence. Her immediate answer was: ‘Yes, and I am very sorry about it’ and she began to cry.

“She accepts she crossed the line, and that is indicative of the fact she has pleaded guilty. She does not harbour any prejudice to people with these difficulties.”

While hardly anyone (except jerks like Richard Dawkins) would likely agree with Presgrave’s nasty sentiments, the idea that posting a snotty, awful comment like that on Facebook for attention automatically equals someone getting snitched on to police, having personal property seized and searched, and being charged with a crime that could end in six months of jail time is… kind of insane, is it not?

And it’s a slippery slope for sure.

Not only is free speech being thrown out the window these days, but can you imagine a society where any time you say something offensive online, someone can call the cops on you and have you possibly thrown in jail for it?

This may not be happening in America just yet, but the First Amendment here has been whittled down quite a bit in recent years, and society is definitely being socially engineered into a bunch of politically correct, easily offended whiners…

Someday, just typing that could get me in trouble like this, too.

(H/T: Kelly Alvarez)