Keir's Stasi...

And he'll need them the way he's going.

Elite police squad to monitor anti-migrant posts on social media



An elite team of police officers is to monitor social media for anti-migrant sentiment amid fears of summer riots.

Detectives will be drawn from forces across the country to take part in a new investigations unit that will flag up early signs of potential civil unrest.

The division, assembled by the Home Office, will aim to “maximise social media intelligence” gathering after police forces were criticised over their response to last year’s riots.

But critics on Saturday night branded the social media plans “disturbing” and raised concerns over whether they would lead to a restriction of free speech.

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Two-tier Keir can’t police the streets, so he’s trying to police opinions instead. They’re setting up a central team to monitor what you post, what you share, what you think, because deep down they know the public don’t buy what they’re selling.

“Labour have stopped pretending to fix Britain and started trying to mute it. This is a Prime Minister who’s happy to turn Britain into a surveillance state, but won’t deport foreign criminals, won’t patrol high streets, won’t fund frontline policing.

“Labour are scared of the public, Labour don’t trust the public, Labour don’t even know the public.”

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said: “This is the beginning of the state controlling free speech. It is sinister, dangerous and must be fought. Reform UK will do just that.”

In a further sign of dissent over the Government’s approach to social media, campaigners claimed on Saturday that posts about anti-migrant protests in the past week had been censored because of new online safety laws.

Free speech campaigners raised concerns about the plans, which follow widespread controversy over the policing of social media.

Rebecca Vincent, the interim director of Big Brother Watch, raised concerns that the new investigations team could stray into policing lawful opinions online.

She said: “The Home Office’s plan to create a new police unit to monitor social media is disturbing, and eerily reminiscent of the Covid-era counter-disinformation units, which have been the subject of widespread public outcry.

“It is unclear how police will use the information they gather or whether they will attempt to interfere with online content as these Orwellian units have before, but our message is clear – the Ministry of Truth era is over.

“Resources should be put into proper physical policing to ensure public safety rather than surveilling online speech.”