On 7 November 2023, two detectives from Bedfordshire Police visited my home over a tweet, where I posted in response to anti-Israel protests at Dagestan’s Uytash Airport. [1]
On 29 October of last year, I said,
“This is the kind of welcome ALL Israelis should be receiving at the airports of Muslim-majority countries.” [2]
It later surfaced that during these anti-Israel protests in Dagestan, some went there with the intention to attack Jews for their religion.
So after mass complaints, primarily from Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), I had a knock on the door from the police. And they explained that — whilst no crime has been committed — I should be mindful of what I post on social media.
They also noted that whilst my tweet was not considered hate speech, they had logged it as a hate “incident” — not a hate “crime”.
BACKGROUND
- On Tuesday, 7 November 2023, two detectives from Bedfordshire Police visited my home
- They came after receiving complaints from pro-Israel groups about an alleged 'anti-Semitic' tweet
- During a short discussion, it was noted that the tweet in question — relating to anti-Israel protests at a Dagestan airport — had been logged as a hate 'incident'
- Recently, the right-wing columnist Allison Pearson was also visited by police, for a similar yet not identical set of circumstances
- In a hastily deleted tweet, Pearson had remarked that British police officers had happily taken a photo with 'Jew haters'
- The question is, should being divisive or offensive lead to police action, in the complete absence of incitement?
Allison Pearson’s police visit
Pearson recently received a visit from Essex Police over a tweet which she posted nearly a year ago.
In that tweet, she had described two Pakistanis with the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) flag taking a picture next to four police officers as “Jew haters”.
And she also mistakenly tagged the Metropolitan Police (those in the photo were from Essex Police).
She deleted the tweet within an hour of posting, yet she received a visit from the police nearly a year later!
Pearson’s alleged tweet was most certainly grounded on racist and Islamophobic stereotypes — because she assumed that the flag being waved was linked to Palestine, which somehow meant that the men waving the flags were “Jew haters”.
But did her tweet warrant a police visit?
The bottom line is I do not believe her tweet warranted a visit from the police, irrespective of how I feel about her political views.
Even with the offensive tweet itself — whether it was her intent or not — one can easily conclude from all her other online content that she certainly does espouse views and positions that many would regard as Islamophobic and racist.
And that’s essentially what it is; I don’t believe that people should be getting knocks on their doors for tweets that some or even many regard as offensive, hateful, or divisive.
So where should the line be drawn?
It should be drawn at incitement, specifically violent incitement.
Any calls to violence, vigilantism, and/or criminality towards any individual, groups, or property — that should be the red line.
And we saw a lot of those examples during the recent race riots, when people were calling for mosques and hotels housing migrants to be attacked and firebombed. That is a red line.
I don’t even think most Islamophobic or racist social media posts warrant a police visit; that is a waste of police resources and time.
And the thing is, once you set that precedent, it will eventually affect us all, and especially Muslims before anyone else.
Ultimately, the issue is that, since October 7, the lines have been incredibly blurred. Mainly to blame for this are Zionists and the pro-Israel lobby.
Now the police are under immense pressure to act upon tweets that are being mass reported when they should actually be resolving everyday and real life crime!
Hate speech is highly politicised
Hate speech is something which is highly politicised and very difficult to enforce, especially from a prosecutor’s point of view.
My own tweet was nothing related to the UK, and UK authorities have no jurisdiction to prosecute or investigate anyone over any tweets that do not relate to the UK.
As mentioned at the start, the post said:
“This is the kind of welcome ALL Israelis should be receiving at the airports of Muslim-majority countries.” [2]
It explicitly mentioned Muslim-majority countries so, of course, it had nothing to do with the UK or Europe.
So why, then, did I receive a police visit when it was nothing related to the UK, British Jews, or Israeli-British dual nationals, whereas Allison Pearson’s alleged tweet was related to the UK because she was referring to British police officers, British Pakistanis, and the incident itself was in Essex?
My personal position is that people should not be getting police visits for social media posts that are not a clear act of incitement.
Police time and resources could, should, and ought to be invested in better things, like actually dealing with real life crime.
Source: Islam21c
Notes
I disagree, people bear responsibility for their social media posts, keyboard warriors should be dealt with. I don’t accept it’s an infringement of free speech, and as Muslims this is not applicable anyway.
He who believes in Allah and the Last Day must either speak good or remain silent. Every word is written, and we will be judged, just as we are judged regarding our tongues.
The problem here is, for you a man, who dresses inconspicuously with a little beard, may not attract attention. That does not apply to us sisters, who are not inconspicuous with our hijab and niqabs and we get targeted. So every far right / anti Muslim post will have some kind of consequences, and we are the easy target. It’s free for all on social media and it is dangerous, and there are victims in real time. We saw that with the riots.
And so what if the police came to your house? You can’t put yourself in the forefront and then start crying? Everyone should mindful of what they post on social media. What is your intention? Are you trying to inform and educate, or trying to cause shock and anger? Are you trying to draw attention to yourself, showing off, boosting your followers? In Islam, numbers and followers do not matter, what matters is that you speak the truth and speak it in an appropriate manner.
All of this is relevant, before any of us write something, ask what is your intention?
It’s a double sided coin, without doubt there is the right wing problem on SM and I don’t feel we are a ‘problem’ but then again I am not active on SM my choice, maybe we are a problem? Either way we are Muslims and we believe in accountability, responsibility and respectability and that should apply in all aspects of our life.
“The bottom line is I do not believe her tweet warranted a visit from the police, irrespective of how I feel about her political views.”
That is subjective and I beg to differ, I agree police resources are not there but social media needs reigning in. It’s a free for all, with real victims and real injuries.