Police forces join forces to investigate journalist over social media post
A Telegraph writer got unexpected police visit about social media content‚ triggering nationwide debate. Multiple police departments created special team to handle social media investigation
On remembrance sunday morning Allison Pearson a well-known Telegraph journalist got surprising visit from police officers who didnt explain which social-media post they were looking into
Three different police departments - the Met Sussex and Essex forces spent almost a year investigating the case. Essex Police took an un-usual step: they made a special gold-group (the kind they normally use for big security issues)
The government said theyʼll check how non-crime hate stuff is recorded to make sure its fair but many think thats not enough. During last summer Sir Keir Starmer pushed for looking into social-media posts; while Yvette Cooper wanted more recording of non-criminal hate things
- The Met Police started looking into it
- Sussex force joined the investigation
- Essex Police made special team
- Government promised to review rules
This whole thing shows how ukʼs free-speech rules work now - police spending lots of time checking social-media posts while democracy needs different views to work right. Both Starmer and Cooper need to explain what they think about free speech; and what exactly theyll do about it
