There have been violent anti-immigration protests in the UK. Photo credit: DW
Stephen Parkinson, director of public prosecutions (DPP) of England and Wales, says residents in the United Kingdom (UK) caught reposting inciteful materials on social media will face jail time for stoking the ongoing anti-immigration protest.
Parkinson said police officers have been assigned to search social media for offenders and follow up with arrests.
Parkinson said the offence to incite racial hatred involves “publishing or distributing material, which is insulting or abusive, which is intended to or likely to stir racial hatred”.
“So, if you retweet that, then you’re republishing that, and then potentially you’re committing that offence,” the DPP said on Wednesday.
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“We do have dedicated police officers who are scouring social media; their job is to look for this material and then follow up with identification, arrests, and so forth.
“So, it’s really serious. People might think they’re not doing anything harmful, they are, and the consequences will be visited upon them.”
The role that social media is playing in the disorder happening across cities in the UK has come under increasing scrutiny.
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The government urged social media platforms to tighten regulation after a list reportedly containing the names and addresses of immigration lawyers was being spread online.
The Law Society of England and Wales said it was treating the list as a “very credible threat” to its members.
On Thursday, Dame Johnson, police minister, said intelligence showed that more protests are expected in the coming days.
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