British police have warned the public that merely watching the James Foley beheading video may be a criminal offense under terrorism legislation, a draconian escalation that threatens to create an ominous pretext for the free flow of information on the Internet.
After the video emerged, which purports to show an ISIS militant with a British accent beheading American journalist James Foley, the Guardian reported that Scotland Yard had launched a full investigation.
“Scotland Yard warned the public that viewing, downloading or disseminating the video within the UK might constitute a criminal offence under terrorism legislation,” states the report.
“In other words….if you watch terrorism, you’re also a terrorist,” remarked Zero Hedge.
So not only could it be treated as a terrorist offense to post a link to the video on your Facebook page, but merely watching the clip could also get you in hot water, despite the fact that tens of thousands of Brits have probably seen the video since it emerged earlier this week.
In terms of brutality, the video pales in comparison to previous examples since it doesn’t actually show the full beheading during the clip.
(Read the rest of the story here…)