Man Fined £1,100 For Dog Nazi Salute YouTube Video

Man fined £1,100 for dog Nazi Salute YouTube video

At times it seems that YouTube might be full of dog or cat videos. It certainly felt that way 10 years ago. One YouTube user though has found himself fined for a unique dog video which many have deemed anti-semitic.

Mark Meechan, better known as “Count Dankula” posted a video in April 2016 of his pug dog. In it, following various commands he was attempted to get the dog to give a ‘heil’ Nazi salute. Attempting to solicit a response from the dog, he used commands such as ‘seig heil’ and ‘gas the Jews’. Last month, he was convicted of committing a ‘hate crime’ specifically because of the video and today was fined £1,100 in the UK courts.

While some can clearly see that the video was in poor taste, it has again opened the floodgates to free speech advocates.

https://youtu.be/5rdWlVyN9es

Are such videos part of free speech?

The video, which has since been deleted, can be viewed in the above mirror. Personally, although as above I think it is in poor taste, the video clearly was intended for comedy purposes. As such, being convicted of a hate crime and fined seems a little over the top to me. Then again, it’s against the law and I suppose we have those for a reason.

After the conviction was made though, the matter did come to the attention of Ricky Gervais. In a Twitter post, he said:“If you don’t believe in a person’s right to say things that you might find ‘grossly offensive,’ then you don’t believe in Freedom of Speech.”

It’s certainly a matter that will get people talking and one which, if only for financial reasons, Mark Meechan probably now regrets.

What do you think about this? Is the fine right or this is ruling against the spirit of comedy? – Let us know in the comments!