London's Metropolitan Police chief warned that officials will not only be cracking down on British citizens for commentary on the riots in the U.K., but on American citizens as well.
"We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you," Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said according to reporting by FOX News.
Riots have broken out across the United Kingdom in recent days over false rumors spread online that an asylum seeker was responsible for a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event that left three girls dead and others wounded.
The murders, allegedly committed by an 18-year-old first generation “British citizen” born to Rwandan parents, sparked a series of violent protests that tapped into broader concerns about the scale of immigration in the U.K., reported Alexander Hall.
Footage of the violent clashes involving anti-immigration protesters and the groups of counter-protesters, some of whom have been seen waving Palestinian flags, has gone viral on social media, and the government is warning that sharing such content may have serious consequences.
One key aspect that makes this apparent crackdown on social media particularly shocking to critics is that the British government is threatening to extradite American citizens from the U.S. to be jailed in the U.K. for violating their rules about political speech online.
Rowley tried to justify his threats against Americans by arguing that “high profile figures” have been "whipping up the hatred," and that "the likes of Elon Musk" have been getting involved. Elon Musk has made headlines for criticizing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's response to the riots over the past week, suggesting the U.K. is headed toward "civil war." He also responded to a video of someone allegedly arrested for offensive online comments with a question, "Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?"
Rowley’s threats against Americans, and Elon Musk in particular, were followed by European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, one of the world’s most aggressive online speech regulators, who had the gall to warn Musk that his planned Monday night interview with former President Donald Trump could violate the EU’s Digital Services Act, or DSA, if X does not limit the spread of certain forms of online speech connected to the interview.
In a particularly unsubtle threat, Breton reminded Musk of the ongoing proceedings against X related to alleged DSA violations, and the measures Musk must take to remain in compliance with the European Union’s restrictive tech regulation package.
“Therefore, we are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political – or societal – events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections,” Breton added.
In response to Breton's threats about the spread of online “hate and disinformation” in the wake of the UK riots, Elon Musk shared an expletive-laden meme.
Elon Musk wrote in a response to Breton's letter, which the EU official posted on X: “To be honest, I really wanted to respond with this Tropic Thunder meme, but I would NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible!”
He then shared the expletive-laden meme from the Tropic Thunder film.
Much as we find Elon’s post amusing in a locker room humor sort of way, we will pass on embedding the post, but you can reach it through this link.
According to the UK’s Daily Mail it has previously been reported that, in a video meeting with Elon Musk in 2022, Breton threatened to ban X unless it abides by strict rules on content moderation.
Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive of X, said of Commissioner Breton's letter: “This is an unprecedented attempt to stretch a law intended to apply in Europe to political activities in the US.
“It also patronizes European citizens, suggesting they are incapable of listening to a conversation and drawing their own conclusions.”
We sifted through the comments from Americans on Commissioner Breton's letter looking for some to share that did not include words starting with F and ending with “off” or “you” but they were few and far between. Fortunately, we did find this one that sums up our views without transgressing our family friendly language policy:
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley
European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton
U.K. riots
Commentary
London Metropolitan Police
Taylor Swift concert murders
immigration protesters
Palestinian flags
sharing content
social media crackdown
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
Elon Musk
EU Digital Services Act
If UK (and US) ended illegal immigration, and did a better job of choosing which immigrants to accept, and deported immigrant criminals. there would be far fewer crimes committed by immigrants, and far less likelihood of blaming a random crime on a random (or nonexistent) immigrant or believing false rumors about them.
If Mark Rowley wants some hate speech then I'll give him some.
1. Islam is a lie from Hell.
2. Men cannot become women and women cannot become men.
3. The entire alphabet soup crowd is nothing but a bunch of flaming perverts.
4. The only people who believe in gun control are absolute idiots.
5. The freedom to say what you want to say just because you want to say it is a fundamental human right that no government can take away from you. And just because you don't like what I say doesn't give you the right to tell me that I can't say it.
6. The best thing you can do is shut up and mind your…