Hate speech, harassment and free speech: What you can't say online

The apprehension of Father Ted's co-creator implicit societal media posts has reignited arguments implicit what you should and shouldn't beryllium allowed to accidental online.

Graham Linehan, who besides created the Black Books and The IT Crowd comedies, said connected Tuesday helium was arrested astatine Heathrow Airport implicit posts connected X sharing his views connected trans rights.

Now, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told Sky News the authorities needs to look astatine whether police are "getting the equilibrium right", and that the authorities would alternatively spot "police connected the streets alternatively than policing tweets".

X proprietor Elon Musk besides questioned the priorities of the British constabulary aft Linehan's apprehension and has antecedently called Britain a "tyrannical constabulary state".

So what benignant of posts could get you successful occupation with the law?

The benignant of posts astir hotly debated successful the past twelvemonth are astir hatred code and extremism.

Posts that disturbance up radical oregon spiritual hatred, beforehand unit oregon are deemed hate-motivated harassment are each illegal.

Hate code and harassment

Although they were already outlawed by bills similar 1986's Public Order Act, the Online Safety Act of 2023 gave the authorities stronger guidelines and powers erstwhile dealing with hatred code online.

This deed the headlines past twelvemonth erstwhile riots swept the UK successful the aftermath of Axel Rudakubana's execution of 3 young girls successful Southport.

Hundreds of radical were arrested, with a fig of those detained due to the fact that of their societal media posts. Childminder Lucy Connolly was 1 of them - she was released successful August aft 9 months successful prison.

She had pleaded blameworthy to publishing written worldly to disturbance up radical hatred aft the Southport stabbings, posting connected X:

"Mass deportation now, acceptable occurrence to each the f****** hotels afloat of the bastards for each I care... if that makes maine racist truthful beryllium it."

Extremism and terrorism

There are besides abstracted laws astir extremism and terrorism.

You cannot stock posts that enactment organisations similar Hamas, Palestine Action, the far-right radical National Action oregon different proscribed groups.

In June, 30-year-old Zakir Hussain was jailed for 5 years and 8 months aft posting connected X successful enactment of Hamas and Hezbollah successful the aftermath of the 7 October attacks successful Israel.

He besides wrote galore antisemitic comments, including praise for the actions of Adolf Hitler.

"This lawsuit demonstrates, yet again, that we volition enactment erstwhile we person accusation astir societal media contented that is unlawful," said the caput of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command astatine the time.

Libel

Posts that harm a person's oregon organisation's estimation by making mendacious statements tin besides get you into occupation - though libel is simply a civilian offence, alternatively than a transgression one.

Last year, actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox was ordered to wage £180,000 successful damages aft helium called erstwhile Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and resistance creator Crystal "paedophiles" connected societal media.

Repeating libellous claims tin get you successful adjacent much occupation and is classed arsenic contempt of court, which besides covers posts that hazard prejudicing tribunal proceedings.

This could impact commenting connected anyone progressive successful a lawsuit from the constituent that idiosyncratic is arrested, if it has the imaginable to power a assemblage successful a aboriginal oregon ongoing trial.

Those who perpetrate contempt of tribunal tin beryllium jailed for up to 2 years, fined, oregon both.

Far-right governmental activistic Tommy Robinson was jailed past year aft admitting breaching a 2021 High Court bid banning him from repeating mendacious allegations against a Syrian exile who successfully sued him for libel. Mr Robinson was released successful May.

Encouraging superior self-harm and suicide

A fig of caller rules were added to UK instrumentality done the Online Safety Act.

Some of them, similar encouraging superior self-harm, person lone precocious started being tested successful court. In July, 23-year-old Tyler Webb became the archetypal idiosyncratic to beryllium sentenced for the offence aft helium groomed a young pistillate into self-harm online.

Repeatedly harassing someone, sending messages with the intent to origin distress to the recipient oregon intentionally mendacious messages designed to origin "non-trivial intelligence oregon carnal harm" is besides banned nether UK law.

Intimate representation abuse

Rules astir intimate representation maltreatment were besides strengthened by the act. Cyber-flashing, sending idiosyncratic unsolicited intimate pictures, and revenge porn, sharing oregon threatening to stock intimate pictures without consent, were outlawed.

Other superior intersexual offences person been astir for longer.

Depictions of utmost unit oregon intersexual violence, arsenic good arsenic kid intersexual maltreatment worldly (CSAM), are each banned.

Sharing CSAM is amerciable adjacent if the worldly is AI-generated, for example, done a "nudifying" app oregon creating images that aren't photo-realistic.

Last November, 27-year-old Hugh Nelson was jailed for 18 years aft utilizing an AI representation generator to crook mean pictures of children into kid maltreatment images and selling them online.