The British government is threatening to arrest anyone who shares or even “retweets” images of the country’s unrest. British media are talking about a “temporary” ban on social media.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Parkinson told Sky News on Wednesday that the Crown Prosecution Service was considering charging people arrested during the riots with "terrorist offences". He did not want to give details.
NEW – Britain can now arrest citizens for “retweets” deemed hateful.
Parkinson also said some social media posts could be interpreted as statements that “incite racial hatred.”
“If you retweet that, you are publishing it and potentially committing a crime,” Parkinson said, noting that there are police officers who do nothing other than scour social media.
Their job is to search for such material and then arrest the person. “So it’s very serious.
Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said action would also be taken against “keyboard heroes”.
“X boss Elon Musk, who was described as a “provocateur” in a Volkskrant article about the unrest, responded: “The Stasi is back.”
