The UK was on the edge of the knife when her mother and former nanny Lucy Connolly tapped out an inflammatory 51-word post on social media a year ago and asked for a “all” hotel to watch out for asylum seekers. “If that makes me racist, then yes,” she added.
Her posts have been viewed 310,000 times. Connolly sentenced 31 months to incite racial hatred, becoming the accused symbol amid debate over whether Britain is restraining freedom of speech. Last month, the appeals court refused to reduce her ruling, eliciting angry protests from her defenders, primarily with political rights.
Connolly's arrest came at a time when he developed a fever following the murder of three young girls by the British son of a Rwandan immigrant. She is one of the thousands of people arrested in the UK each year for sending or posting offensive messages. This can include people who are “vulgar or grossly offensive” if they are intended to cause distress to the recipient.
Critics, including Vice Presidents JD Vance and Elon Musk, have accused the UK of backslide in the social media era. They point to some old, some new, some new, some new, some new, combined with overly enthusiastic policing and right and left perceptions of law enforcement bias towards their perspective.
The UK is restricting speeches in ways that “not only British people” during an oval office meeting with Prime Minister Kiel Starmer in February, they say.
When asked to respond to Vance's claim that “free speech is retreating,” Starmer gives no basis.
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