The United Kingdom has a new Labour government after a landslide win in the 2024 election. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Labour took 411 of the 650 seats this year, ending 14 years of Conservative Party rule. With new governments come new policies, where one is particularly Orwellian: you can be jailed for posts deemed to incite hatred online. In other words, if authorities find it problematic, the police are coming to your house and dragging you to jail. It reconfirms why the American Revolution was good and should remind everyone why a codified right to free speech in our Bill of Rights is essential to keeping us free. This UK nonsense is insanity, something out of 1984 (via Fox News) [emphasis mine]:
INSANITY: A 55-year-old woman in the UK has been arrested for making an 'inaccurate social media post' the about lunatic who fatally stabbed 3 little girls. pic.twitter.com/52uWRMGciq
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 8, 2024
The government of the United Kingdom warned its citizens this week to be careful of posting material deemed offensive — threatening imprisonment for those who incite "hatred."
The Crown Prosecution Service posted a warning to social media platform X on Wednesday warning citizens to "Think before you post!" amid ongoing riots that have fractured the country's polity.
"Content that incites violence or hatred isn't just harmful - it can be illegal," the government agency wrote. "The CPS takes online violence seriously and will prosecute when the legal test is met. Remind those close to you to share responsibly or face the consequences."
The CPS added, "The British government is cracking down on people who share social media posts about the U.K. riots that it judges are 'likely to start racial hatred.'"
The post was then amplified by the GOV.UK website's official account.
Riots have broken out across the U.K. in recent days over a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event that left three girls dead and others wounded.
That mass stabbing occurred in Southport, which set off days of mayhem.