August 10, 2024
London's Metropolitan Police chief warned that officials will not only be cracking down on British citizens for commentary on the riots in the U.K., but on American citizens as well.
"We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you," Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told Sky News.
Riots have broken out across the United Kingdom in recent days over false rumors spread online that an asylum seeker was responsible for a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event that left three girls dead and others wounded.
The murders, allegedly committed by a now 18-year-old British citizen born to Rwandan parents, sparked a series of violent protests that tapped into broader concerns about the scale of immigration in the U.K.
Footage of the violent clashes involving anti-immigration protesters and the groups of counter-protesters, some of whom have been seen waving Palestinian flags, has gone viral on social media, and the government is warning that sharing such content may have serious consequences.
One key aspect that makes this apparent crackdown on social media particularly shocking to critics is that the British government is threatening to extradite American citizens from the U.S. to be jailed in the U.K. for violating their rules about political speech online.
A Sky News reporter asked Commissioner Rowley to further explain his warning, arguing that high profile figures have been "whipping up the hatred," and that "the likes of Elon Musk" have been getting involved.
She then asked what the police force’s plan will be "when it comes to dealing with people who are whipping up this kind of behavior from behind the keyboard who may be in a different country?"
Rowley answered by telling the reporter, "Being a keyboard warrior does not make you safe from the law."
"You can be guilty of offenses of incitement, of stirring up racial hatred, there are numerous terrorist offenses regarding the publishing of material," he said.
"All of those offenses are in play if people are provoking hatred and violence on the streets, and we will come after those individuals just as we will physically confront on the streets the thugs and the yobs who are taking — who are causing the problems for communities."
Elon Musk has made headlines for criticizing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's response to the riots over the past week, suggesting the U.K. is headed toward "civil war."
He also responded to a video of someone allegedly arrested for offensive online comments with a question, "Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?"
The billionaire owner of X posts the hashtag #twotierKeir about the prime minister in reference to "two-tier policing" - a claim often used by the far-right to suggest that police treat certain groups of people in different ways.
In a later post aimed directly at Sir Keir, Musk asked "why aren't all communities protected in Britain?".
It was in response to a video appearing to show large crowds of masked people gathered outside a pub, some waving the Palestine flag.
Musk directed a similar comment towards the prime minister on Monday after Sir Keir said he would not tolerate attacks on Muslim communities.
Mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers have been among the targets of unrest across the UK for the past week.
Former police chief Neil Basu has said the worst of the far-right violence should be treated as terrorism, and Musk's comments are "pretty disgraceful".
In another post, Musk used the hashtag #twotierKeir, in reference to "two-tier policing". This is a claim often used by the far-right to suggest that police treat certain groups of people in different ways.
Sir Keir and Conservative leadership contender Dame Priti Patel are among the senior politicians who have rejected claims this is an issue, while Neil Basu, Britain's former head of counter-terrorism, called it a "very dangerous rhetoric".
The row with Musk started after he claimed that "civil war is inevitable" in the UK - comments which were quickly condemned by the government.
Musk has been engaged in a war of words with Sir Keir Starmer over riots gripping the UK, amid concerns online disinformation is fuelling the unrest.
Earlier, justice minister Heidi Alexander told Sky News that "everyone should be calling for calm in this situation".
"So I do think the language around civil war being inevitable is totally unjustified," she added.
Starmer’s spokesperson said there was "no justification" for Musk’s comments, adding that social media companies "can and should be doing" more to combat misinformation, the BBC reported.
He added that such companies "have a responsibility" to stop the spread of criminal activity and limit misinformation.
The UK police now …
The fact that Orwell’s 1984 is set in the UK is just poetic.
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