The article "TOBY YOUNG: Stop policing our tweets and start policing streets" by Toby Young expresses concern that the UK government's focus on policing online speech is diverting resources away from addressing real crimes such as shoplifting, mobile phone theft, and sexual offenses. According to a report by Big Brother Watch, some police forces made 14 times more arrests per capita than their neighbors for online offenses. The article argues that this trend is driven by chief constables who prioritize protecting "designated victim groups" from "hate speech" over traditional policing duties. This opinion piece is written in a critical tone, arguing that the government's focus on online speech is misplaced and threatens free speech in the UK.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A recent report by Big Brother Watch has revealed that over 60,000 people have been arrested in the UK over the past five years for "communications offences", such as making comments on social media. The report describes this as an "Orwellian" trend and a "chilling effect" on free speech online. 62,199 arrests were made, with 18,510 charges brought and 12,292 convictions. Campaigners argue that while some arrests are justified, many others are over-zealous policing of everyday communications. The report cites cases where police have visited homes to investigate posts on social media platforms like TikTok, including one incident where a teenage girl was threatened with arrest for commenting on a video she didn't create. This trend has been criticized by Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, who argues that the authorities should focus on policing streets rather than tweets, as shoplifting, mobile phone theft, and sexual offences are on the rise in the UK.
Written for “Social Media Censorship Controversy” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
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The number of people being arrested for things they've said online, as revealed by Big Brother Watch in The Mail on Sunday, is deeply alarming.
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they → see → Sunday
The UK is the birthplace of parliamentary democracy and has an exemplary tradition of free speech dating back to the Magna Carta.
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UK → have → Carta
Yet these figures show it is on life support.
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it → show → support
If the Government doesn't take urgent action to restore it to health, we are in danger of becoming the North Korea of the North Sea.
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we → take → Sea
Why are the authorities spending so much time policing our tweets when they could be policing our streets?
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they → spend → streets
Shoplifting, mobile phone theft and sexual offences are all on the rise, yet the police seem increasingly obsessed with catching thought criminals.
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police → seem → criminals
It's tempting to blame this on the desire for a quiet life.
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The number of people being arrested for things they've said online, as revealed by Big Brother Watch in The Mail on Sunday, is deeply alarming, writes Toby Young, the director of Free Speech Union.
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Young → arrest → Union
Pictured: Mr Young at the Conservative Party Conference in 2025
After all, it's far easier and less dangerous to arrest a child or a pensioner for an 'offensive' social media post than it is to apprehend a man in the course of committing a violent crime.
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it → picture → crime
But most ordinary coppers I speak to would much prefer to be catching proper criminals.
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I → speak → criminals
The obsession with policing social media comes from the top, which is why the number of people arrested for online offences varies so much from region to region.
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number → police → region
According to Big Brother Watch's report, some police forces made 14 times the number of arrests per capita than their neighbours did.
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The problem stems from a new generation of chief constables, marinated in the social sciences departments of red brick universities, who think the role of the police 'service' (never 'force') is to protect designated victim groups from 'hate'.
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role → stem → hate
They believe that complaining on social media about the number of people crossing the Channel on small boats, or the phalanxes of semi-naked men on Pride marches, or the conversion of a beloved local pub into a mosque, contributes to 'community tensions' and if left unchecked they will inevitably boil over into civil disorder.
That's also the view of Labour ministers, Whitehall mandarins and senior judges, who regard platforms like X, YouTube and Facebook as a grave threat to the social order.
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who → believe → order
Graham Linehan thanks the Free Speech Union in a new video message released today
Linehan was arrested in relation to three tweets which police deemed to warrant an arrest
In their view, everyone in our multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, polyamorous society would be getting along just fine if it wasn't for that pesky Elon Musk encouraging people to spread mis- and disinformation about minorities on his toxic platform.
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Musk → thank → platform
According to these public sector panjandrums, the way to tackle rising resentment about illegal immigration, two-tier justice and Islamification is not to defend their record in the public square, but to stop people talking about these issues on social media.
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people → accord → media
In the new commissariat of woke chief constables, they've found willing enforcers of this policy.
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they → find → policy
As the director of the Free Speech Union, I've witnessed this 'be kind' authoritarianism first hand.
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I → witness → authoritarianism
We've defended over 6,500 people since 2020, many of them arrested for social media posts.
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many → defend → posts
By far the biggest category in our case database is labelled 'sex and gender' – people who've got into trouble for criticising the excesses of the trans rights movement.
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who → label → movement
We often win these cases, as we did when we helped Graham Linehan secure £25,000 in compensation from the Met Police following his arrest by five armed officers for a single tweet urging women confronted by trans activists in ladies' toilets to punch them in the balls.
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Linehan → win → balls
But the sheer number of people being arrested for online offences, even though only one in five end up being convicted, cannot help but have a chilling effect on free speech.
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five → arrest → speech
People daren't say what they think for fear they'll get a knock on their door by a couple of plainclothes officers wearing rainbow lanyards.
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they → say → lanyards
Nigel Farage called for Zack Polanski to be arrested after the Green Party leader shared a photograph of a man wearing a T-shirt 'planning his decapitation'
Big Brother Watch is calling for an independent review of Britain's free speech crisis and I endorse that proposal.
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I → call → proposal
Not only is the explosion of online censorship bad for democracy, but public confidence in the police is plummeting.
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confidence → plummet → police
There's also the problem that cancel culture is spreading to the Right.
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culture → be → Right
In the summer, Nigel Farage reported Green leader Zack Polanski to the police for reposting a picture of a man wearing an offensive T-shirt (the Met took no further action), while Reform banned three journalists from attending its party conference.
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Reform → report → conference
The Right should always champion free speech, not just when it suits them.
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it → champion → them
When then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was challenged by J D Vance last year about his government's failure to uphold one of Western civilisation's most important values, he became defensive and said Britain had a 'proud record' of defending free speech.
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Britain → challenge → speech
Not recently we don't, as this report lays bare.
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report → do → ?
We need to restore it to its rightful place at the heart of our society before it's too late.
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it → need → society
