The British government has reportedly tasked a specialist police unit to surveil social media for anti-mass migration opinions as it braces for another potential summer of unrest.
Rather than address the concerns of the public, such as removing the mostly young male illegal migrants from the taxpayer-funded hotel accommodations in communities across the country, the UK Home Office has formed the National Internet Intelligence Investigations to “maximise social media intelligence” about anti-mass migration sentiment on social media, according to The Telegraph.
The team will work out of the Covid lockdown-enforcing National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) in London.
It comes amid protests outside of migrant hotels, starting with the Bell Hotel in Epping, where locals have staged several protests after an illegal from Ethiopia was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl from the area. Protests against planned migrant hotels have also broken out in Norfolk and London.
While mostly peaceful, the government is reportedly deeply concerned of a potential re-run of last summer’s riots, which broke out in the wake of a second-generation Rwandan teen, Axel Rudakubana, stabbing three young girls to death and injuring ten others at a children’s dance party in Southport. Anger over the horrific attack sparked protests and riots across the UK, during which migrant hotels were targeted in violent incidents.
The government took a hard-line approach to what Prime Minsiter Starmer branded as “far-right” outpouring of anger, arresting over 1,280 people, including some who merely posted on social media, such as Lucy Connolly, a mother who received a 31-month prison sentence for a Facebook comment in relation to the riots.
Nevertheless, the government has vowed an even stronger response to any unrest this year. A government spokesman told the Independent: “While the public have a right to protest against the current situation, we will never tolerate unlawful or violent behaviour.
“Working closely with the police, we have thorough and well-tested contingency plans in place to deal with any public disorder, which have been strengthened since last year’s shameful scenes.”
Meanwhile, the Online Safety Act, which was passed by the former Conservative Party government and finalised by Labour, came into effect for social media companies on Friday. While the legislation was pitched to the public as a means of preventing children from seeing pornography or other graphic content, X users in Britain have already reported having anti-mass migration protest footage blocked if it contains any violence.
The move by the government to establish a new team to monitor social media has drawn strong rebuke from opponents, including from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who 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.”
Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp remarked: “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 are scared of the public, Labour don’t trust the public, Labour don’t even know the public.”
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