Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan, creator of the sitcom "Father Ted," says his arrest over social media posts criticizing transgender activists underscores what he sees as a growing threat to free speech in the United Kingdom.

"I think my case proves that there is a terrible free speech problem in the U.K., but sadly, I've seen that happen now for eight years," Linehan told Fox News Digital. "They just want to put you in a cell and scare you into not talking about certain issues."

Linehan said he was detained Sept. 1 at Heathrow Airport in London by five armed officers who said he was being arrested over three posts on X criticizing transgender activists.

One of them read, "If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls."

UK COMEDY WRITER GRAHAM LINEHAN ARRESTED OVER SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS CRITICIZING TRANS ACTIVISTS

"They didn't name anybody. There was no target," Linehan told Fox News Digital. "One of them made an argument about how women should keep themselves safe when they're approached by a man who shouldn't be in one of their spaces. Advice I would give my daughter at the drop of a hat."

Linehan said police initially cited a breach of the Public Order Act, but later indicated the arrest was tied to an allegation of affray, a charge that typically involves physical violence that carries a maximum prison term of three years.

He was released on bail with the condition that he refrain from using X until a follow-up interview in October.

"When I was arrested, I could tell that the police were slightly embarrassed," he said. "These are big, tooled-up guys who’ve been training with weapons, and they’re being used to arrest a comedy writer. It’s humiliating to them."

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Linehan said he began speaking out about gender ideology nearly a decade ago after watching women "lose work and opportunities" for questioning it. He said his stance cost him his entertainment career and made him a target for harassment from transgender activists.

"The moment I started speaking out about it, my life was kind of destroyed," he said. "I was cold-shouldered by my entire business when, up until then, I was somewhat lauded as an example of a comedy writer who was fairly consistent in producing quality work. And the entire U.K. entertainment system turned their back on me."

Linehan said he recently moved to the U.S., partly because of stronger legal protections for speech.

He called the U.K. "no longer really a free country" and said, "people like me know we’re not going to get a fair hearing in the U.K."

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"But in the U.S., speech is protected. These kinds of vexatious complainants don’t get as easy a time as they do in the U.K.," he added.

Linehan also reflected on the national conversation surrounding free speech in the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed on Sept.10 while speaking at a Utah university.

Liberal late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was temporarily suspended by Disney after he falsely suggested that Kirk's killer, Tyler Robinson, was part of the "MAGA gang," despite reports Robinson had a left-wing ideology that were later confirmed in an indictment. Kimmel's supporters were outraged and claimed he was being targeted by the Trump administration. He returned to the air less than a week later.

Linehan said Kimmel's brief suspension paled in comparison to true threats to free speech.

"To look at Jimmy Kimmel, who took a three-day holiday from his show, and to call that the greatest example of free speech suppression, even in the same week that Charlie Kirk got shot, I just find mind-blowing," Linehan remarked. "And it just shows that liberals at the moment are living on a different planet. Clearly, the most pressing threat to free speech is far-left activism, which killed Charlie and continues to be a threat."

Linehan said he was grateful that President Donald Trump recently designated Antifa as a terrorist group, saying he's frequently encountered the black-clad agitators trying to intimidate women at activist events he's attended over the years.

He praised Kirk for encouraging debate on controversial issues like the transgender topic.

"His arguments were all done in good faith with great empathy and respect for everybody involved in those kinds of decisions," he said of Kirk. "And they just couldn't get him. I think the reason they killed him was because they couldn't get him on those arguments. They couldn't beat his arguments so they had to shut him up. I think it's a very sad thing."

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Metropolitan Police in London for comment but did not immediately receive a response.