# Should it be illegal to insult authors? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684 "2016-04-20T00:17:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/1 "2016-04-20T00:17:15Z")
In this [article](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/14/insults-rape-threats-writers-online-harassment) Jessica Valenti argues that authors should endure “Insults and rape threats”. Of course threatening anyone is and should be illegal. But insulting public figures has been our pastime since 1776. Valenti writes: > [@](#): > > People who disagree with me often don’t merely say so – they lob personal attacks or make cruel and snide remarks. There’s not much back-and-forth to be had with someone who showed up with the sole intention of calling you stupid… > > being called a “cunt” or “whore” every day for a decade leaves its mark. The Guardian blocks insulting comments since 1999, but how can authors be protected from insults on forums where their work is being discussed? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/2 "2016-04-20T00:29:07Z")
Blocking comments on a message board is not the same as making insults illegal. If governments made insulting comments illegal, it would violate the First Amendment, and hence be unconstitutional. The remedy should remain as it is. Individual owners of message board forums and other publications are free to restrict comments within their medium. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/3 "2016-04-20T00:31:35Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Individual owners of message board forums and other publications are free to restrict comments within their medium. Of course. But as long as there are sites that allow insults the insults will continue. When Reddit banned a few subreddits, Voat boomed. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/4 "2016-04-20T00:35:06Z")
That is not the same as making insults illegal. You seem to be confused about the First Amendment. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/5 "2016-04-20T00:35:24Z")
I will resist the urge to insult (insert the name of any person you wish here) and will just leave it at I think is should be legal. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/6 "2016-04-20T00:39:01Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > That is not the same as making insults illegal. In UK it is easy to be [jailed](http://www.prisonofficer.org.uk/simages/pr_45072249_prison1330.jpg) for an offensive tweet. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/7 "2016-04-20T00:46:04Z")
Of course insults shouldn’t be illegal. (Threats are different from insults. Surely you’re not equating calling someone a douchebag with threatening to kill them?) > [@CCitizen](#): > > In UK it is easy to be [jailed](http://www.prisonofficer.org.uk/simages/pr_45072249_prison1330.jpg) for an offensive tweet. Got a cite for that? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/8 "2016-04-20T00:52:30Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > In UK it is easy to be [jailed](http://www.prisonofficer.org.uk/simages/pr_45072249_prison1330.jpg) for an offensive tweet. Thanks for the link to a picture of a jail. I’m sure none of knew what one looked like. In the world of actually useful links, yeah, in the UK can you can [be arrested](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9440261/Teenager-arrested-over-abusive-tweets-to-Tom-Daley.html) [just for saying](http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/mar/27/student-jailed-fabrice-muamba-tweets) [mean things](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-31906452) [on line.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2604387/Dutch-teen-ARRESTED-Rotterdam-tweeting-joke-bomb-threat-American-Airlines.html) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/9 "2016-04-20T01:03:44Z")
Well, the last one made a joke about bombing a plane – they kind of frown on that. The others – I think that’s stupid. (Please don’t arrest me!) ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/10 "2016-04-20T01:05:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Thanks for the link to a picture of a jail. I’m sure none of knew what one looked like. > > In the world of actually useful links, yeah, in the UK can you can [be arrested](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9440261/Teenager-arrested-over-abusive-tweets-to-Tom-Daley.html) [just for saying](http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/mar/27/student-jailed-fabrice-muamba-tweets) [mean things](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-31906452) [on line.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2604387/Dutch-teen-ARRESTED-Rotterdam-tweeting-joke-bomb-threat-American-Airlines.html) Thanks for the links. In UK, jails are much better then in USA and look differently. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/11 "2016-04-20T01:10:11Z")
An author who can’t handle an insult has no right to be in the business. After all, you will be getting reviews and rejection all your career. If you don’t have a thick skin, you won’t stay in the business for long. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/12 "2016-04-20T01:25:39Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > An author who can’t handle an insult has no right to be in the business. . . . In the same context as nitpicking over the word “illegal,” the phrase “no right” is a bit off. Sure, thin-skinned whiners have a right to be in the business. They just are unwise to make this their business. Some very good authors have been petulant little whiners. Harlan Ellison jumps to the front of the line. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/13 "2016-04-20T01:54:52Z")
Of course it’s ok to insult anyone (not threaten). However, why would anyone want to insult an author? Just don’t read the book. Or if you did read it and don’t like it, post horrible reviews of it that touch on the book’s lack of merit. If you manage to cut into the author’s sales with your horrible reviews, that will bother the author more than hurling insults. ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/14 "2016-04-20T03:04:56Z")
Somewhere along the line, our culture unfortunately decided that people have a right not to be offended. Once that right is established, it does away with all other rights, since virtually anything that anyone does or says carries the possibility of offending someone, somewhere. The OP is a reflection of that attitude, if you ask me, as are the links from the UK about people being arrested for saying or posting “offensive” messages. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/15 "2016-04-20T03:52:01Z")
I’m curious as to who voted for the 2nd option. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/16 "2016-04-20T05:01:46Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > Of course. But as long as there are sites that allow insults the insults will continue. When Reddit banned a few subreddits, Voat boomed. The article is about Guardian comment sections, reddit or 4chan have no bearing on that. > [@CCitizen](#): > > In UK it is easy to be [jailed](http://www.prisonofficer.org.uk/simages/pr_45072249_prison1330.jpg) for an offensive tweet. Gaoled. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > I’m curious as to who voted for the 2nd option. Screw Progressive, I’m a State Farm man. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/17 "2016-04-20T10:59:53Z")
Threats should of coarse be illegal. A creditable rape threat should absolutely carry a heavy penalty. Insults and cretitable threats are not the same thing, and should be treated differently. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/18 "2016-04-20T12:00:32Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Gaoled. That’s really archaic. Jailed is the common spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/19 "2016-04-20T12:07:46Z")
No author—whether thick-skinned or not—has the legal, moral, or ethical obligation to allow comments of any particular nature directly on his or her own forum. Even a traditional newspaper always had the right to choose what letters to the editor to publish. Especially in this atmosphere in which online commenters feel free to make vile statements of no substantial import, especially when the writer is a woman or a racial minority, I see no reason to expect publications to host open comments. Even in the physical world, you don’t have a right to barge into someone’s house or office and berate them. And even in the public street there is such a thing as harassment. ---
**Author:** ![Zuzu\_s\_Petals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@Zuzu\_s\_Petals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zuzu_s_Petals)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684/20 "2016-04-20T12:14:55Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > That’s really archaic. Jailed is the common spelling. ‘Gaoled’ is the UK spelling. **thelurkinghorror** was making a funny. 🙂 ETA: Wait. You’re in Scotland. You know that already. Doh! I’ll go back to mostly lurking. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-illegal-to-insult-authors/752684.md?page=2)