{"id":1267631,"date":"2022-02-03T09:08:07","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T14:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1267631"},"modified":"2022-02-03T09:08:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T14:08:11","slug":"uk-government-looks-to-further-tighten-criminal-restrictions-on-online-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/uk-government-looks-to-further-tighten-criminal-restrictions-on-online-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Government Looks to Further Tighten Criminal Restrictions on Online Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fuk-government-looks-to-further-tighten-criminal-restrictions-on-online-speech%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1267631&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-994506244-e1643806581151-640x335.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">A further tightening of criminal restrictions on online speech is being looked at by the UK\u2019s Conservative Party government.<\/p>\n<p>UK Conservatives within government are looking at the possibility of further tightening restrictions on online speech, with officials looking at criminalising posts that are \u201clikely to cause harm\u201d as part of a new Online Harms Bill.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The UK\u2019s hate speech rules already in place have previously been&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/12\/23\/father-ted-creator-trolls-used-uk-hate-rules-to-weaponise-the-police\/\">accused<\/a>&nbsp;of allowing \u201ctrolls\u201d and \u201cconmen\u201d to weaponize the police, while the UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/12\/23\/uk-to-overrule-use-of-orwellian-non-crime-hate-incidents-in-free-speech-win\/\">promised<\/a> to take measures protecting free speech.<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2022\/02\/01\/online-trolls-could-face-two-years-jail-posting-messages-likely\/\">report<\/a> by&nbsp;<em>The Telegraph<\/em>, the Tory government is reportedly considering the possibility of expanding criminal restrictions on online speech to include any message or post where the sender either intended to harm someone, or was \u201caware of\u201d the fact that it would harm someone.<\/p>\n<p>Under the expansion, proposed by the UK\u2019s Law Commission, no proof would be required regarding whether someone was actually harmed by the post.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Other changes being considered include making sending or posting \u201cknowingly false communications\u201d an offence, along with inciting, encouraging, or participating in what&nbsp;<em>The Telegraph&nbsp;<\/em>calls \u201cpile-on harassment\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Philp, who serves as&nbsp;Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy, reportedly said the offences recommended by the commission were being \u201ccarefully considered\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe online safety bill is a genuinely groundbreaking and world-leading piece of legislation designed to make sure the United Kingdom is the safest place to be online, anywhere, in the world,\u201d Philp <a href=\"https:\/\/parliamentlive.tv\/event\/index\/5ac718dd-1d39-4c28-8e5f-e55321abad78\">said<\/a> on Tuesday during a meeting of the&nbsp;Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Sub-committee on Online Harms and Disinformation.<\/p>\n<p>Philp also lauded the bipartisan nature of the bill, emphasising that both Conservatives and those in opposition \u2014 which includes Britain\u2019s leftist Labour Party \u2014 had an appetite for it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[The bill] is one that\u2019s not really party-political,\u201d Philp said. \u201cIt\u2019s not really ideological. It\u2019s a bill I think all of us have\u2026 regardless of party have the same objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Father Ted Creator: Online Conmen Used UK Hate Speech Rules to Weaponise the Police <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MLMJjKczD0\">https:\/\/t.co\/MLMJjKczD0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1473989262458572800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 23, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Hate speech rules in the UK have repeatedly been lambasted by critics, with Graham Linehan \u2014 who created the hit television show Father Ted \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/12\/23\/father-ted-creator-trolls-used-uk-hate-rules-to-weaponise-the-police\/\">recently claiming<\/a> that the laws were being used by \u201ctrolls\u201d and \u201cconmen\u201d to harass opponents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been confronted three times by police on the orders of online trolls,\u201d Linehan \u2014 an outspoken critic of transgender self-identification laws \u2014 previously told Breitbart London. \u201cThe police in the UK have been acting on behalf of what is essentially a criminal gang of misogynists and conmen who use muddled laws to avoid scrutiny and criticism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The country\u2019s Home Secretary, Priti Patel has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/12\/23\/uk-to-overrule-use-of-orwellian-non-crime-hate-incidents-in-free-speech-win\/\">claimed<\/a> that she will protect freedom of expression by overruling the recording of&nbsp;non-crime hate incidents by police.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe police will always have my backing to fully investigate hate crimes, but they must do so whilst protecting the fundamental right of freedom of expression,\u201d Patel said, with another government source claiming that those in power \u201cwant officers to focus on policing actual crime, not hurt feelings\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these statements made by UK government insiders, strict rules regarding speech remain in place.<\/p>\n<p>Of particular note are the rules of the nation\u2019s media regulator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/01\/06\/uk-regulator-adds-political-opinion-to-hate-speech-rules\/\">Ofcom<\/a>, which bans the airing of hate speech on programs, including \u201call forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify hatred based on intolerance on the grounds of disability, ethnicity, social origin, gender, sex, gender reassignment, nationality, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, colour, genetic features, language, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth or age\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, under the new Online Harms Bill, the reach of the regulator looks set to expand even further, with tech bosses who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2022\/02\/01\/online-trolls-could-face-two-years-jail-posting-messages-likely\/\">refuse<\/a> to cooperate with Ofcom to soon face criminal sanctions, including jail time, under proposed rules.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have heard the messages about the need for Ofcom to have proper powers to gather information and to properly enforce,\u201d&nbsp;<em>The Telegraph<\/em> reports Philps as saying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A further tightening of criminal restrictions on online speech is being looked at by the UK\u2019s Conservative Party government. UK Conservatives within government are looking at the possibility of further &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":297,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1267631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/297"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1267631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1267631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1267631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1267631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}