British police are threatening to charge and extradite citizens of other countries including the United States who they feel have violated their online speech laws even if the individual lives in a country that respects freedom of speech.
“We will throw the full force of the law at offenders,” announced Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley in a TV interview on Friday.
“Whether you are in this country committing crimes on the streets, or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you,” continued Rowley.
When asked if that included “high profile figures” like Elon Musk, the Met Police Chief answered in the affirmative, vowing to target “keyboard warriors.” Watch:
The Orwellian announcement by the Met Police was made shortly after Jordan Parlour was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment for a Facebook post.
Police in the UK have been authorized by the government to begin mass arresting citizens who post content on social media that has been ‘debunked’ by Facebook fact checkers.
Sky News reports that a British woman has been arrested by Cheshire Police for posting content deemed ‘false’ by fact checkers.
The 55-year-old woman was arrested near the northern town of Chester on “suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and false communications.”
Chief Superintendent Allison Ross gave a statement explaining how the post is alleged to have “fueled” the protests and riots in the UK over the last week, which she asserts started as a result of “malicious and inaccurate communications online.”