"Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I am blowing the airport sky high!!"
This tweet got Paul Chambers arrested and convicted for sending a menacing tweet under anti-terrorism laws in the UK.
Paul and @Crazycolours began an online romance via Twitter. When Paul was due to fly to Northern Ireland to meet Crazycolours in person, bad weather forced the airport closure and he posted the explosive tweet.
Five days later an off duty airport employee discovered the tweet and reported it to his manager. Unsurprisingly, the tweet didn't inspire terror in anyone but following protocol led to Paul's arrest and conviction under anti-terrorism laws.
The tweet was obviously a joke. You'd have to be a pretty bad terrorist to use Twitter to send a bomb threat to no one in particular, giving over a week's notice and, oh yeah, using your real name. Thankfully, the High Court thought so too and overturned the conviction.
Could this happen in Australia?
We have a nearly identical law which makes it a crime for using a carriage service in a menacing way and, if you're found guilty, you're looking at 3 years in lockup. However, a Queensland court has ruled that guilt for this offence requires both that the message is menacing in fact, and that you intended it to be menacing.
So, feel free to vent your frustrations and make bad jokes using social media as an outlet. Just make sure they're either really really funny or really really lame.
PS. Paul and Crazycolours are now engaged.
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