Police Now Threatening to Arrest People Who Make Fun of Their Facebook Posts About Drug Busts
When stumbling across a police department’s social media page, it easy to see how out of touch law enforcement is with the rest of society.
If police understood what people truly cared about, their social media pages would at least give lip service to violent crime, and they would use these platforms as propaganda tools to give the illusion that they are making people safe. Instead, police typically decide to put their typical day-to-day activities on display, which usually amount to nothing more than harassing peaceful people like you and me for small non-violent drug offenses.
This being the internet, these types of posts are usually a magnet for activists and free thinkers who troll the police and shame them for their authoritarianism. Unfortunately for people in the UK, free speech is becoming increasingly restricted online, and the police in West Yorkshire have recently threatened to arrest those who criticize their drug busts.
After a large swarm of people began to call them “clowns” and “jerks” for arresting harmless drug users instead of fighting real crime, The West Yorkshire Police made a post stating that they deleted comments and blocked users from commenting. They also threatened to make arrests for insulting the officers, citing “The Malicious Communications Act of 1988.” The post read:
“Unfortunately we have had to ban a number of people from using this page today. I would like to remind everyone that this is a Police page and whatever your thoughts on one of my officers seizing drugs in the community, being insulting, abusive or offensive can and will result in a prosecution under the Malicious Communications Act 1988. We will not overlook the significant harm that illegal drugs cause to our communities. We know from experience that this can progress from using what are perceived to be recreational drugs to more addictive and harmful substances and the resulting criminality used to fund their continued use. Please use this page with respect or you will be banned and maybe even prosecuted.”
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As expected, this post has only called more attention and brought more criticism to the page, drawing many activists from outside the country who cannot be prosecuted under the UK’s anti-speech laws. The Malicious Communications Act 1988 (MCA) is a British Act of Parliament that makes it illegal in England and Wales to “send or deliver letters or other articles for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety”. It also applies to electronic communications.
Police the UK made similar threats last month citing the MCA, in regards to the public outcry about the medical kidnap of the sick child Alfie Evans. In the midst of the controversy, Merseyside Police Department threatened to arrest online posters who were insulting the doctors, judges, and police about how they handled the situation.
After the incident, Lord Chief Justice Burnett of Maldon made a renewed call to crack down on critics of the legal system for their online comments.
Burnett claimed at the time that people exercising their free speech online is “capable of undermining the rule of law because it erodes confidence in an institution which doesn’t deserve to have its confidence eroded”.
“There is no doubt that it is dispiriting and sometimes genuinely frightening for our judges. It is a factor which inevitably may play into the recruitment of judges. Put crudely, if people are thinking of applying, particularly in some jurisdictions, they may be asking themselves the question ‘why should I put myself through what might happen’?” Burnett said.
As The Free Thought Project reported, earlier this year a YouTube prankster named Mark Meechan was arrested and found guilty of a hate crime for training his dog to do a Nazi salute—as a joke to freak out his girlfriend. Meechan says that he is not racist or antisemitic, but that he likes to explore the “darker side of humor.” He was also charged and convicted under the MCA.
Last month, The Guardian reported that the UK is among the lowest ranked western countries for press freedom. Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns for journalistic freedoms, said the UK ranked 40th out of 180 countries on its annual World Press Freedom Index.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:
My name is John Vibes and I am an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. I write for numerous alternative media websites, including The Free Thought Project @tftproject and The Mind Unleashed. In addition to my first book, Alchemy of the Timeless Renaissance, I have also co-authored three books with Derrick Broze @dbroze : The Conscious Resistance: Reflections on Anarchy and Spirituality, Finding Freedom in an Age of Confusion and Manifesto of the Free Humans
I just won a 3-year-long battle with cancer, and will be working to help others through my experience, if you wish to contribute to my medical bills, consider subscribing to my podcast on Patreon.
Frankly, the judicial system is so corrupt and backwards that anyone with a heart and working ability to use logic would have absolutely nothing to do with it. This means that only those who are barely conscious will get involved and they then attract reflections/comments from those who operate on a similar frequency. They meet their own reflection, don't like it and attempt to ban mirrors. They will eventually realise that you cannot live in a reflective physical reality and not encounter your own reflection!
Yeah, I am actuallly working on an article right now about how roughly a dozen google employees quit over the drone program, even though 3000 employees demanded that the company cancel their pentagon contracts
so few willing to put their money where their mouth is
and even fewer willing to think outside of the box
Having spoken to one of the computer engineers who developed systems for drones that were then used in military devices... his justification was essentially that life is hard and he wanted money to be more comfortable. Unfortunately he didn't realise that part of the cause of life being hard is that people like him facilitate heartlessness.. keep digging and exposing!!
This is something that the world of crypto will make less necessary. We've been duped into thinking that life is still hard when the difficulty should have ended about 100 years ago. Instead, the parasites at the top kept all profits to themselves in the hundreds of trillions of dollars and the rest of us are left with barely 3 trillion to survive on.
This is what unlimited money produces. Fixed upper limit crypto makes vast scale theft by government impossible.
I believe The West Yorkshire Police department received a quick lesson on the Streisand Effect. LOL
The problem is that we have bad police.
I do not mean they are doing bad, or are evil. I mean they are bad at doing the job that the public is propagandized that they do.
You could tell the police that a particular store is about to be robbed... and they will show up afterwards to take a report.
The modern police officer is not a member of the community. Does not know who is supposed to be in what house, nor any idea of what is really happening in town. They couldn't solve a crime if their lives depend on it.
This stupid CSI crap on tell-lie-vision is there to make people think police are actually looking into crimes, like murder. The truth is that 50% of murders aren't even investigated. The ones that are investigated, are basically throw the "usual" suspect in jail and make him cop a plea deal or rot there waiting for trial.
So, the police need to be extra super diligent to stop any public outcry against them, because if any actual investigation into what police do with their time happened, than a lot of firings would follow.
oh man that CSI stuff is a riot when you know how real police work actually happens lol
“capable of undermining the rule of law because it erodes confidence in an institution which doesn’t deserve to have its confidence eroded”
Ah yes the "institution" is more important than the rights of the people it is supposed to serve. Now there is a slippery slope.
The bludgies need their safe space. Police also think being rude and disrespectful is against the law and cause to assault and cage someone. It's ironic these thugs make fun of "snowflakes" and "safe spaces" and then get offended when someone calls them a pig.
Fuck the police!
When, they can not prove their ability and trust to the mango people, they will use force. They will be using the power, they have. Which was also given by the people. They are being paid by people. Even though, they are trying to conceal their inability with threat to the same ones.
So, we now using money to make our own grave.
...they have triggered by hate speech! lmao...
Curated for #informationwar (by @wakeupnd)
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