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Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions in England and Wales, said that 'publishing or distributing material which is insulting or abusive which is intended to or likely to start racial hatred' online will be prosecuted.
(LifeSiteNews) — A U.K. government official has announced that police will arrest people for sharing content that could incite “racial hatred,” regardless of their intent.
Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions in England and Wales, said in an interview with Sky News that “publishing or distributing material which is insulting or abusive which is intended to or likely to start racial hatred” online will be prosecuted.
“So, if you retweet that, then you’re republishing that and then potentially you’re committing that offense [incitement to racial hatred],” Parkinson stated.
“We do have dedicated police officers who are scouring social media,” he added. “Their job is to look for this material, and then follow up with identification, arrests, and so forth.”
“So it’s very, very serious. People might think they’re not doing anything harmful. They are. And the consequences will be visited upon them.”
England has witnessed violent protests and clashes between anti-immigration protestors, counter-protestors, and groups from certain minority communities ever since the murder of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed event in late July.
The alleged murderer was an 17-year-old whose parents immigrated to the U.K. from Rwanda. As a child model, the suspect once took part in a children’s charity advertisement in which he portrayed one of contemporary England’s most iconic figures, Doctor Who.
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Editor's Note :
As of June 27, 2024, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Global Protest Tracker reported that more than 147 countries have experienced significant antigovernment protests since 2017.
n addition, economic fears have led to protests in recent months in countries with stable economies, like Poland and Belgium, as well as countries with high debt, like Argentina, Pakistan, and Tunisia.
The ACLED Conflict Index also assesses countries and territories for levels of conflict based on data collected over the past year. In July 2023, 50 countries were ranked in the top three categories of extreme, high, or turbulent conflict. Some of the countries that the Crisis Group has identified as conflicts to watch in 2024 include Ethiopia, Haiti, and Armenia-Azerbaijan