Football fan banned over gender-critical posts after ‘Stasi’ Premier League investigation

[dutchman]

Special unit set up to root out racism was used to comb through comments made by Linzi Smith, a gay female Newcastle fan



A female football fan was banned from matches over social media posts that were deemed transphobic after a “Stasi” spying investigation by the Premier League.

A special unit set up to root out racism in the game was used to comb through comments made by Linzi Smith, a gender-critical Newcastle United supporter, even though the posts had nothing to do with football. Gender-critical people believe transgender women are not women.

Ms Smith, who is gay and promotes lesbian, gay and bisexual rights and women’s rights, was put under investigation by the police, the Premier League and Newcastle United after expressing strong views on trans ideology on her personal account on X, formerly Twitter.

The 34-year-old was shocked to discover that the Premier League had compiled a dossier detailing where she lives, works and where she walked her dog. The 11-page “target profile”, marked confidential, included data on “associated aliases” and “vulnerabilities”.

She was interviewed under caution by police after the dossier was handed to officers by Newcastle United. Officers took just two hours to inform her that she had not committed any crime, but the club, which had spent four months looking into her background, revoked her membership and banned her from games until 2026.

She is taking legal action in an attempt to overturn the ban, arguing that her right to exercise gender-critical views is protected in law, and that the Premier League’s trawl of her personal social media account constituted a breach of data protection laws.

She told The Telegraph: “I’m struggling to believe this has happened to me. It’s mind-blowing that they have gone to such lengths because I have expressed views to which I am entitled on my personal Twitter account.

“They have behaved like the Stasi – it was being done so covertly that I didn’t even know what was happening.

“They kept telling me they want everyone to feel included – but it appears you’re only welcome if you follow their thought process on everything, and if you don’t you are banned. It is sinister and I feel violated, to be honest.”

Newcastle United began prying into the personal life of Ms Smith, who lives in Newcastle and runs a tea shop with her mother, after receiving a complaint from a fan who said they supported LGBTQ+ organisations and accused her of discrimination against trans people.

In October, Newcastle United contacted Ms Smith via email, saying she was “currently under investigation by Northumbria Police for a possible hate crime offence” and that her membership had been suspended.

Days after she received the email, two police officers came to her home wanting to interview her. She refused to let them in, but when they said they had grounds to arrest her she agreed to attend a police station the next day. There, she was interviewed under caution about her tweets for 25 minutes.

“I felt quite dizzy and sick afterwards,” she said. “I was shaking. I had to sit in my car for about 20 minutes before I could drive.”

Two hours later, she received a phone confirming that police would be taking no further action because she had not committed any offence.

In mid-November, she received a letter from Newcastle United telling her she was banned from the club’s St James’ Park stadium for the rest of this season and the two seasons after that, and that her membership had been revoked. She was also banned from buying tickets for away games.

“I just cried,” she said. “I plan my whole weekends around football, I’ve been a Newcastle fan my whole life and I’ve spent thousands over the years on tickets, shirts, everything. What was happening just seemed surreal.”

The club said she had breached the equality and diversity section of its membership rules, which state that the club will protect supporters from discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

It said she had also breached its equality policy, which is similarly worded, and section 12 of its ground regulations, which prohibit “any conduct, act or statement… that is discriminatory”, including by means of gender or sexual orientation.

[dutchman]

Good to know the police have so little to do they can waste their time and taxpayers' money on investigations like this!

[rebbonk]