New Abuse and Censorship Blog Policy

Regular readers will appreciate that I have always struggled to give space to even the maddest, most repulsive ideas. I don't like censorship.

When trolling threatened to get out of hand, I suggested corraling it into a particular thread. Such was the outrage that I reconsidered and the venom was allowed to flow. It amuses some, depresses others, but such is the nature of blogging.

However. Abusing me is one thing,but abusing and slandering those nearest and dearest to me is quite another. As of now, comments which are abusive in that way will be deleted. You are free to abuse me, as ever, although we all appreciate some wit and creativity along the way.

I may lose some readers for this change in policy. I will live with that. Protecting my loved ones is more important.

Censorship...again!

What is it with the Prison Service? Rather than deal with an issue, rather than debate or deny, they instinctively try to suppress the voice of prisoners. In this day and age, a pretty pointless exercise but then prison managers have never been famous for keeping up with the times. They just rely on old habits.

So they refuse to allow a journalist in to see me, after giving him permission to visit. Doh! And now, according to a letter in this month’s Inside Time, the management at Frankland nick tried to hide copies of that newspaper which carried my blog-post about the staff brutality in their prison.

Really?? I mean, come on, welcome to the information age! There are payphones, domestic and legal visits, letters, illegal mobiles, all supplemented by the prison grapevine...news is going to travel, one way or another.

Why be so silly and backward as to try to suppress it? Why not investigate the claims of brutality? Why not pop onto the blog and refute them? Welcome to the 21st century prison service -just like the 20th century one, if it doesn't like something, it tries to sguash it. Silly sods.

Censorship

Through some oversight, I have so far failed to explain the restrictions under which I write.

Now that the Ministry have shifted from their stance of trying to shut me down to one of ignoring me completely, I am able to write reasonably freely. Nevertheless, there are limits.

These are the rules on correspondence which prisoners must adhere to: I may not identify prison staff or fellow prisoners. I may not discuss the finer pints of explosives recipes, poisons or other destructive devices. And I shouldn't discuss my crime, or that of others, except in the wider context of criminal justice debate.

Apart from that, I'm pretty much able to say whatever the hell I like. Even with the above restrictions, I don't feel at all constrained. I have never written with these restrictions in mind and never will; self censorship is even more poisonous that than censorship imposed. And whilst I would love to name individual staff and parade their inadequacies before the world, that would hardly add to the sum of human knowledge and would be a mere personal indulgence.

And you can be assured that if the management did prevent my sending out any specific post, then I and my lawyers will be overjoyed at the opportunity to hoof them into court, all the while giving you all a blow by blow account.