AG Report 11.20.2024
UK’s Speech Laws and Selective Enforcement Are Inconsistent with a Free Society
A key distinction between the United States and many other Western nations is the First Amendment, which shields offensive or hateful from government repercussions. While this does not preclude social repercussions, it critically guards against governmental overreach through speech restrictions. The United Kingdom is a cautionary tale of how such laws can be misused, highlighting their selective enforcement and inconsistency with a free society.
A recent example is the Essex police’s investigation of Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson after something she posted on social media. Authorities visited her home and demanded she come in for an interview. They did not tell her which post triggered their interest. However, it was later revealed that it was a tweet in which she complained about UK police refusing to pose for photos with pro-Israel demonstrators, but willingly posing with what she referred to as “Jew-haters.”
As it turns out, the second photo featured supporters of a Pakistani political party and Pearson deleted the post once the error was pointed out. At worst, it was an ignorant tweet. But it led to a yearlong investigation involving three police forces based on the idea that the tweet was inciting racial hatred.
In another case from August, a Jewish father was arrested in front of his family because he referred to a progressive Rabbi as a “Kapo” in a Facebook post. In another incident, a former Labour MP recounts how he was investigated by police for correctly referring to Hamas as an “Islamist” group. There are hundreds of other examples that most rational people would consider shocking.
Making matters even worse is the selective enforcement of these laws. There are marches in London almost every weekend where anti-Israel supporters openly rally for designated terrorist groups and chant anti-Semitic barbs, but these laws are rarely used against them. In fact, there are several instances of UK police at those marches harassing counter-protestors who criticize Hamas. They’ve arrested (and then de-arrested) one Iranian activist three times for a sign that says “Hamas is Terrorist.”
This selective enforcement of the law paints a picture of a legal system that, rather than uniformly protecting societal peace, targets individuals based on the content of their speech, often ignoring or even supporting more overt expressions of hate when politically inconvenient to address.
The UN is a Failed Institution and the US Should Cut it Off