Neenarneenar it’s your local internet coppas…
I hope you don’t mind us using an announcement like this, but we would like to remind you that _speculating_ that any specific individual is involved in crimes or even questionable behaviour, could have significant consequences to the individual even if ultimately they’re entirely innocent and undeserving. The lives, and livelihood could become jeopardised through no fault of their own. We hope that people will keep this in mind when producing content herein, and what type of community we all want it to be.
Additionally, while we appreciate that you are within your rights to use this space within what is permissible given the Reddit content policy and local subreddit rules, we would remind you that as individuals you may find yourselves within the auspices of UK Law Enforcement if found to break UK law after having been prompted by a sufficiently motivated person(s). IANAL and I couldn’t be minded to consult with the sharp minds of LAUK this dry evening, but situation-dependant, such laws could include, but may not be limited to;
– Defamation Act
– [Malicious] Communications Act
– Contempt of Court Act
– Various legal precedent as established by other cases
Obviously, u/Adjective-Verb-0101, your potential liability may not readily translate into practicable consequences, such is the nature of online forums, legal costs, and similar considerations, but we are minded to remind you nevertheless so you have full awareness. As is always the case, you post and comment at your own risk.
How you use this notice is ultimately up to you. As mess sweepers, we are not obliged to enforce law from any particular jurisdiction, and we are not _currently_ aware of any reason to take action against users performing these sorts of activities, **provided speculation does not escalate** into Content Policy violating material. Though on such a point, we will be very reactive to any evidence of such and are actively discussing whether we have any need to adjust this attitude – we do not want a [“we did it Reddit”](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/athfwiki/images/f/f1/Mooninites.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/548?cb=20110312181508) in our local space for local people.
And once more. Please be aware you may be potentially adding to the anxieties, stress, and livelihoods of perfectly innocent people given your words are often seen by (according to tooling) 150-300k+ people a day. While that may not matter in the greater world of UK online discourse, it may help on seeing such content anywhere, that you remind people of these consequences and pressure for claims to be evidenced.
Appreciated.
/r/uk Modteam
by Leonichol