“Hate speech” laws aren’t about safety; they’re about control

Lucy Connolly, who was previously jailed for an offensive Twitter post, is being threatened with a return to prison for reposting a joke about Donald Trump coming for the UK Prime Minister. Her probation officer is claiming it could “incite violence.”

In the following, Paul Collits discusses “hate speech” laws in the UK and Australia, citing examples of people being prosecuted for their opinions. He argues that such laws are being used to control and suppress dissenting voices, rather than addressing the root causes of problems.

It isn’t about safety. It’s about control, about compelled speech and about controlled speech, he writes. It isn’t about safety. It is about control. It is about compelled speech and it is about controlled speech. Keir Starmer and Anthony Albanese (“Albo”) are simultaneously repressive and incompetent....<<<Read More>>>....

A warning to Australians: Look what’s happened in the UK; policing “hate speech” online does not stop criminal acts

 While the Australian government is attempting to rush through the “hate crime” bill, the UK serves as an example of how this bill will morph into something other than what politicians claim it is intended for.

While UK police use time and resources to arrest thousands every year for perceived online “hate speech,” the very real threat from Islamic extremists is ignored.

In the video below, Sky News host Peta Credlin interviews retired UK police officer Julian Foulkes, who warns Australians about speech being labelled as a “hate crime” using the example of the attack on free speech in the UK.

“The UK government’s crackdown on hate speech is reportedly seeing as many as 30 arrests a day,” Credlin said. “The UK is clearly the canary in the coalmine here.”

Referring to the “hate crime” bill that is being rushed through the Australian Parliament, Foulkes said: “Be very careful as to what you vote for, what you want, because this will morph into something much worse....<<<Read More>>>...

Ex-Met Police Chief Tables Amendment to Abolish Non-Crime Hate Incidents

 The Government could be forced to abolish non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) after a former head of the Metropolitan Police and Toby tabled a widely supported amendment to axe them in the House of Lords. The Times has more.

Lord Hogan-Howe, who led Britain’s biggest police force between 2011 and 2017, and Lord Young of Acton, head of the Free Speech Union, have tabled an amendment to the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill that would stop requiring police to record NCHIs. It would abolish NCHIs as a special category of incident that must be recorded by officers.

The bill is being scrutinised in the Lords. Hogan-Howe and Young’s amendment is understood to have received the backing of dozens of crossbenchers in addition to the Conservatives, which means it has a good chance of succeeding.

If the amendment is voted through the Lords it will force the Government to either accept the scrapping of NCHIs or to use its majority in the Commons to overturn the amendment when it returns from the upper chamber.

NCHIs are supposed to be reserved for incidents that fall below the criminal threshold but help forces to develop intelligence on situations that could escalate into more serious harm or heightened community tensions.

Official guidance tells officers to record incidents that are “clearly motivated by intentional hostility” with a real risk of escalation “causing a significant harm or a criminal offence”.

They were introduced in 2014 after recommendations prompted by the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in London in 1993. However, they have been increasingly used by forces to record petty arguments and trivial online spats. Critics claim they are stifling freedom of speech and wasting police time....<<<Read More>>>...

British Police Order Trump-Supporting Pensioner to Apologise for “Upsetting” Facebook Post or Face Investigation

British police have been accused of a “dystopian” attack on free speech after an American woman was threatened with investigation over a Facebook post and ordered to “apologise”. The Mail has the story.

Footage of the encounter has been seen more than 1.3 million [now 2.8 million] times since it was posted last night and has sparked a furious response from campaigners.

It shows a woman, named as American cancer patient and Donald Trump supporter Deborah Anderson, being confronted in her home by Thames Valley Police.

The MAGA-backing mother-of-two was accused of “upsetting” a person following an alleged “threatening” post she made on Facebook, which was reported to police.

The officer declined to say which of the alleged posts had been complained about.

In the video, “elderly” Ms Anderson then flatly refuses to apologise for her comments online before she is threatened with the potential of a formal interview at a police station.

The incident, filmed in June, prompted an intervention by the Free Speech Union (FSU), who last night claimed Thames Valley Police had since dropped the case. The force today confirmed no further action was taken over the allegations.

It comes as Britain faces fierce criticism over a recent clampdown on free speech, which has seen people being arrested, convicted or jailed over posts made online.

The issue has prompted concern from US President Donald Trump – who is in the UK on his state visit – and warned earlier this month “strange things are happening over there, they are cracking down… I’m very surprised to see what’s happening”....<<<Read More>>>...

This MAD World: "Dirty pants on washing line recorded as non-crime hate incident by police, if only it was a joke"

 Police recorded a soiled pair of underwear hung on a washing line as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI), it has emerged.

 In September 2021, a woman complained to North Wales Police that her neighbours had “hung a very large soiled pair of underpants on their washing line” for the past two months.
 

The force recorded it as a hate incident because the complainant had an Italian surname and the underwear was first put on the washing line in July that year. That month, Italy defeated England on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final of football’s European Championships....<<<Read More>>>....

Police raid German pensioner’s home, drag him to court for retweeting meme mocking Green minister as “idiot”

 Free speech is dead in Germany after police arrested a 64-year-old Bavarian pensioner for retweeting a meme of Green Economy Minister Robert Habeck in which Habeck is described as an "idiot."

For the "crime" of upsetting Habeck and his minions, the pensioner had his home raided by law enforcement, which arrested him for a "politically motivated right-wing crime."

According to the Bamberg prosecutor's office, what the pensioner did constitutes a federal criminal offense of "hatred."

"At a time that cannot currently be specified in more detail in the days or weeks before June 20, 2024, the accused published an image file using the account that shows a portrait of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck with the title 'Schwachkopf PROFESSIONAL,' based on the advertising campaign of the Schwarzkopf company, in order to generally defame Robert Habeck and to make it more difficult for him to work as a member of the federal government," reads the official statement from the prosecutor's office about the "crime."

"Schwachkopf," by the way, is a German word that closely translates as "idiot" in English....<<<Read More>>>...

U.K. government supports J.K. Rowling amid her challenge to Scotland’s new hate crime law

 The British government has defended J.K. Rowling’s freedom of speech amid her challenge to Scotland’s new hate crime law, sparking a debate over free expression and transgender rights.

The British government publicly issued its support of the acclaimed author of the "Harry Potter" series. Rowling, who is recognized for her gender-critical views, challenged the law through social media by stating that several transgender women are men. Her challenge coincided with the day the law went into effect.

Rowling’s critique involved name-dropping 10 biological men pretending to be women, including individuals convicted of serious crimes. The individuals she listed included a convicted rapist, sex abusers and high-profile activists.

She provocatively anticipated arrest under the new law’s provisions – which includes "stirring up hatred" on grounds including transgender identity – highlighting the tension between legal definitions and biological sex discourse.

"I hope every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be reassured by this announcement, and I trust that all women – irrespective of profile or financial means – will be treated equally under the law," the author posted on X.

"Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal. I'm currently out of the country, but if what I've written here qualifies as an offense under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment."...<<<Read More>>>...