The U.K. may have left the EU, but it continues to be ruled in much the same way, certainly when it comes to matters relating to free expression, and particularly when it comes to views expressed online. And Britain’s Labour Government is even less enthusiastic about “wrong tier” free speech than the Conservative governments which preceded it.
And so this news, via the Daily Telegraph, comes as no great surprise
An elite team of police officers is to monitor social media for anti-migrant sentiment amid fears of summer riots.
Detectives will be drawn from forces across the country to take part in a new investigations unit that will flag up early signs of potential civil unrest.
The division, assembled by the Home Office, will aim to “maximise social media intelligence” gathering after police forces were criticised over their response to last year’s riots.
It comes amid growing concern that Britain is facing another summer of disorder, as protests outside asylum hotels spread.
On Saturday, crowds gathered in towns and cities including Norwich, Leeds and Bournemouth to demand action, with more protests planned for Sunday.
The Conservative Party’s shadow home secretary has criticized the formation of this “elite” team of eavesdroppers, as well he might, but until the Tories renounce their own Online Safety Act and their approach to online discourse during the pandemic, their credibility in this area is . . . limited. The rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK can be attributed to a number of causes, but the Tories’ attitude to free speech was one of them.
So how are the eavesdroppers going to coordinate their efforts?
Well, the new unit, which is to be called the National Internet Intelligence Investigations team (beats clearing up burglaries, eh?) will work out of the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC). Among the NPoCC’s battle honors are having led the enforcement of Britain’s absurdly draconian lockdown rules during the premiership of Boris Johnson.
One reason for the formation of this elite unit has been fears expressed by a police “watchdog” that policing “hasn’t kept pace with the fast-developing nature of online communications” and was too “passive” in the face of online misinformation.
Ah yes, “misinformation.”
The Daily Telegraph:
Rebecca Vincent, the interim director of Big Brother Watch, raised concerns that the new investigations team could stray into policing lawful opinions online.
She said: “The Home Office’s plan to create a new police unit to monitor social media is disturbing, and eerily reminiscent of the Covid-era counter-disinformation units, which have been the subject of widespread public outcry.