Controversial terrorism law used to arrest British man for ill-advised joke

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I became aware of this story on Wednesday but have been unable to mention it until today due to some promises:

Doncaster man Paul Chambers, 26, was arrested by police under the provisions of the Terrorism Act (2006) ֠for making a joke on the social networking site Twitter.

Chambers, who has no connections to any extremist organisations, made an ill-advised remark after flights being grounded by recent icy conditions. Some days later he was arrested in his workplace. Now suspended from work and banned from Robin Hood airport, Chambers is waiting to discover if he will face charges ֠and the sack.

For all the arguments about freedom of speech not extending to shouting “fire” in a crowded theatre, it’s worth noting that Chambers was not in a “theatre”, crowded or otherwise, he was making an obvious joke on the internet. Interestingly, it took police a week to arrest him, suggesting they didn’t really consider him a threat to national security.

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