Really??

I had guessed that illegal immigrants get nothing - other than, I would assume, bed and board in detention centres. Thanks for all the links. I now feel informed enough to stand on a soap box! In this particular case I have to tread carefully, but if I see anything coming from other directions I can now let fly!

I have tried to give you some facts, Nfk, like the fact that refugees and asylum seekers only get £37.50 a week now for subsistence allowance, a rise of £1.75 from six years ago.
I find that quite appalling.
Someone else has told you that illegal immigrants get nothing.

I put the whole thing on as, as you read down it sounds almost plausible - like the one about how much better off pensioners would be in prison than in a care home which is on it’s way around. Again. (Well, probably not plausible to any of you, but it is to a lot of people - even if they were to stop and wonder why the supposed income is just that little bit higher than any of them could ever hope to earn.). Easy to be sucked in if you’re afraid of people who don’t speak English. Several of my friends shared the prison being better than care homes one the first time around - and this one too. People who have given to Syrian refugee charities, who’re soft hearted generous and wouldn’t hurt a flea. But afraid. Afraid of change, the way the country - and world - is heading. Afraid of change.

I was upset that some misunderstood me and thought I was trying to promote racism, but it was my fault for not explaining myself properly.

It sounds easy to just in-friend this person, but in this case I can’t. And anyway, should we just unfriend - or try to point out what the post actually says? What it is. And how to do it without belittling or embarrassing. I needed facts. True facts to put to this person so she doesn’t share stuff like this again.

GGM2 you are talking of the wrong poster in any case, it was an OP by Nfk and not Wilma.
That’s just btw.
Nfk just read this whole sorry thread......you have been jumped on from a great height by the usual suspects.
There is no reason for anyone to be so unpleasant to the OP at all, she doesn’t agree with the messages and quite rightly, it’s a load of garbage that has been doing the rounds for a while.

Trying to deflect from the aggro, jane.

Why don’t you start a separate thread dj?

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/17/pakistani-humanist-denied-uk-asylum-after-failing-to-identify-plato

Much more important.

What will someone see if they look at the thread?
There isn't anything racist apart from what was copied, with what was a discussion about how these so called 'facts' had done the rounds of social media before.
I dont see why anyone would need to question why it had been posted, because dumpling explained why. I don't see that her friend could be judged as not nice, because again, dumpling explained that her friend tends to jump onto any passing bandwagon with questioning it.

Nonnie I agree that only your friends see what you post as your status.
But I think that if one of your friends posted a comment on a Britain First post, you would see both your friend's comment and Britain First's OP.
If you then posted a comment, that would be seen by everyone who sees Britain First's OP.
You can control who sees your own OPs, but not comments you make on other people's.
Gracesgran I can't speak for NFK but I think whether it was her intention or not, the thread has served a purpose in alerting people about being careful about re-posting things on social media.

Surely anyone can go on GN facebook and link back to the thread. Once on GN they can look at any thread on GN that takes their fancy.

jane you are mistaken. My Fb is set up so that only my friends can see what I post. It depends on how you set up your privacy settings.

Why am I being unfair janeainsworth? I am sure WMKF is a very nice person. I am not saying anything about her personally. What I am saying is repeating rubbish spreads it. That is my opinion.

The information on this thread is in no way limited. Anyone can read it and if it becomes a thread on FB even more people can read it and share it, and reshare it.

I do not want to be associated with such views so have pointed out what I think of them. I have not attributed them to WMKF or her friend but I do not think repeating them helps. That is my opinion. Am I not allowed to post it?

I also believe that by posting it WMKF did not get an answer to her question in many cases so really, what purpose did it serve?

good post jane re FB. However, if the 'friend' posts on a closed group, their friends who are not in that closed group can't see those posts. Or can they?

Posting something on Gransnet isn't quite the same as posting on FB Gracesgran.
I think you're being unfair to nfk.
The information on this thread is restricted to people who actually read the thread, and as you can see all those who have responded so far don't condone the original message and recognise it for what it is.
But FB is different. The OP will be seen by that person's 'friends' whether they want to see it or not.
Then it will be seen by the 'friends' of anyone who comments on the OP.
Then if they comment, it will be seen by all their 'friends' as well.
That's how things go viral.
The only way anything on GN could go viral is if GNHQ post a link on their FB page or Twitter.
Hopefully they'll have more sense than to do that.

The wider question is whether social media should be more tightly regulated to prevent the spread of fake news and abusive posts.

I don't know petra - why did they? Where, please tell me (other than Bridgit's most recent post) has anyone attacked posters rather than the content of the post?

In comparison my state pension has risen over £25.

What is really bad is that refugees and asylum seekers get an extra £1.75 a week in six years.
I find that quite appalling considering that their subsistence is for buying food, etc.

Gracesgran
^no one is attacking the poster*
So why did HQ find it necessary to ask posters to be courteous to one another when replying.
As you know, it takes a lot for them to step in on a thread.

I do hope you are ok NfkDumpling, unfortunately there are regular posters on here who seemingly would like us all to take an entrance exam to meet their own criteria before we are deemed suitable to have or express an opinion on GN, & woe betide any one who doesn't fit in! Sadly these critical posters are completely oblivious to their own shortcomings!

www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/15/destitute-uk-asylum-seekers-get-80p-rise-in-subsistence-payments

This is what asylum seekers get now. A rise of 80p this year.

I can't see how anyone looking at the news and politics threads cannot have known about fullfacts.
It's my goto as well, Wilma.
I think we must have put hundreds of links to it by now.

Caledonai14, you could have asked the question a lot more generally. You could have said that a friend had, yet again posted a piece on FB that you not only disagreed with but found offensive but you didn't know how to deal with such posts. This could have been far right, far left, anything and the problem would still have been the same.

By posting in full you could almost guarantee that would be what got discussed. We are just as responsible for what we post, surely, as those who reply are responsible for that.

No one is attacking the poster. They are attacking what she posted. It is extreme and racist in my opinion and repeating it was neither necessary or useful.

You may disagree with my views on that. You may say it needed posting. These are just our opinions on the content of the post NOT the original poster, her friend or on me.

Yet again people seem to be looking for a safe space where their VIEWS are not disagreed with - rather like the students who try to close down discussion they don't agree with I feel.

It was neither WMKF or her friend who wrote this. Whoever did originally probably did it years ago but his/her opinion is still doing the rounds. It seems to me only reasonable that those who do not agree with what it says, whoever said it, should have their say too. My view is that not repeating it is the best way to end it.

I can't see that 'News & Politics' will really have much traffic beyond the handful of regular posters

News & Politics topics appear, along with everything else, in the Active threads list.
All sorts of people might click on them if the title looks intriguing.

I agree it is awful but I don't know if I would have understood the point if it had been edited or toned down. I understand why some people were annoyed if they have seen the post before, but I was glad to see the explanation of why it wasn't removed. I enjoy the lively exchange of views on GN, but - as several people have pointed out - something posted in earnest and for the right reasons is different from something deliberately aimed at upsetting people.

I had a 'friend' who used to post such rubbish so I 'unfriended' her. Easy, I don't want people like that in my life. Facebook is not a problem if you choose your friends.