A straw man is a form of argument and an informal fallacy based on giving the impression of refuting an opponent’s argument, while actually refuting an argument that was not presented by that opponent. One who engages in this fallacy is said to be “attacking a straw man.”

So someone copied and pasted a small part of the previous blog, referencing the escalation of bullying into hate and violence, into various FB threads discussing Louise Distras and Kickstarter and completely lost the context.

Naturally the knobheads who were actively engaging in that shitshow (and screen capping everything in the process…) decided to turn it into a straw man argument, saying that it meant those abusing Louise were being equated with a mass murderer. Any understanding of the escalation of hatred was gone, and was perhaps deliberately misinterpreted by some.

The following piece by NonCompete explains really clearly how online comments, memes and bullshit ‘edgy’ humour gains momentum and can be genuinely dangerous.

If you want to argue your right to free speech on subjects like Louise’s Kickstarter campaign you need to know what you’re talking about.

Under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act people are entitled to free speech but in the UK it can have some restrictions, which can be “in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary”.

In addition to this Section 4 of the Public Order Act 1986 makes it an offence for a person to use “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, another person harassment, alarm or distress”.

It’s not acceptable to shrug off horrible things you’ve said with a flippant “it was just a joke ” or “the internet isn’t real.”

We’re each individually responsible for what we say in person or online and the effects our words have, especially when it contributes to people getting hurt or worse.