This isn't two-tier policing, it's much worse than that.
UK authorities have warned citizens that merely retweeting information about the riots could lead to criminal charges.
Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions, told Sky News that people do not even need to personally post the content themselves to be deemed to be committing an offence.
Parkinson said social media users could be guilty of “incitement to racial hatred” if they post “insulting or abusive” content that is “likely to stir up racial hatred.”
So if you retweet that, then you’re republishing that and then potentially you’re committing that offence,” he added, noting that dedicated police officers are “scouring social media” looking for such material.
“People might think they’re not doing anything harmful, they are, and the consequences will be visited upon them,” Parkinson warned.
Sky News clarified that “sharing online material of riots could be an offence.”
The public official also asserted separately that individuals who publish protest/riot locations, such as those outside immigration law firms, could be hit with terrorism charges.
“The fact that it’s organised groups that might be motivated by ideological reasons, the fact that they’re promoting potentially very serious offences – that’s the sort of instance where we might want to consider terrorism charges,” said Parkinson.
He even previously suggested that social media influencers who are currently located abroad like Tommy Robinson could be extradited and hit with terrorism charges in the UK on nebulous charges of inciting the riots.
Numerous prominent people in the UK are now calling on the government to mimic Communist China by banning Twitter (X) altogether in the country to stop civil unrest.
Cambridge professor Sander van der Linden said the government could “geo-restrict access to a platform if the situation got so bad” and Twitter could also be “banned from the app store for violating policies.”
This comes after a video emerged on X of a pensioner being arrested for posting something said to be 'offensive' on Facebook.
The post caught the eye of X owner Elon Musk who commented:
Arrested for making comments on Facebook. Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?
Comments