A British police force has warned the public that they will be “monitoring” their social media posts for “hate crimes” as officers paraded with the “Progress Pride” flag on Monday.
The Essex Police force warned Britons against making their thoughts known as they marked Pride Month with a picture of officers raising the Progress Pride flag, which in addition to the traditional rainbow colours has added the transgender colours as well as black and brown stripes to represent LGBTQ+ ethnic minorities.
The force wrote: “We celebrate diversity by raising the Pride Progress flag for Pride Month at our HQ and to honour those who championed for equality before us! #WeValueDifference #PoliceinPride.”
Essex Police then warned the public off criticising the virtue signalling effort by adding: “We’re monitoring our posts. All hate crime will be reported & investigated.”
In the United Kingdom, which does not have First Amendment freedom of speech protections, citizens face criminal charges under subjective categories such as “grossly offensive” or intentionally causing “annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another” under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003.
The bill, which was introduced under the left-wing government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, has been used to arrest thousands of Britons for content posted on the internet.
Despite being in power for over a decade, the so-called Conservative Party has not only refused to rescind the draconian policing powers to curtail free speech but has indeed pursued even more limitations on the internet.
Under the impending Online Safety Bill proposed by Boris Johnson’s government, social media companies will face massive fines, up to 10 per cent of a company’s global revenue, for failing to police “harmful content” online.
Thousands more citizens have had their internet posts recorded by police forces throughout the country in a database for “non-crime hate incidents,” which although not an actual criminal offence, could still turn up on a criminal background check done by prospective employers.
Police forces have also previously encouraged citizens snitch on others for “things like offensive or insulting comments, online, in person or in writing”.
Last year, the Merseyside Police force came under fire for decking out a police van with a billboard that read “Being Offensive is an Offence” during a so-called “hate crime awareness event”.
Police forces in Britain have also been keen to highlight their woke bona fides, including Liverpool Police, which released a cringeworthy video promoting “pronoun awareness” in which officers stressed the importance of using “gender-neutral terms” and to “increase inclusivity by challenging negativity in all its forms.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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