Britain’s Speech Gulag Exposed: 10,000 Arrested Last Year For Social Media Posts

Britain’s Speech Gulag Exposed: 10,000 Arrested Last Year For Social Media Posts

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A damning study complete with an interactive map has revealed that UK police arrested nearly 10,000 people in 2024 for “grossly offensive” social media posts—equivalent to 30 arrests every single day—while knife crime, burglary, and sexual offences go unsolved.

This Orwellian crackdown, driven by vague “communications” laws, has turned Britain into an international embarrassment, with forces devoting more manpower to policing opinions than protecting citizens.

Compiled from Freedom of Information requests to 39 police forces, the data shows 9,700 arrests in 2024 alone under the Communications Act 2003 and Malicious Communications Act 1988.

🚨 SPEECH CRIME POSTCODE LOTTERY
A Daily Mail investigation has exposed the shocking number of people arrested for “offensive” social media posts.
Freedom of Information requests sent to all police forces in England and Wales revealed that 9,700 people were arrested last year… pic.twitter.com/DxPsD3HBOE
— The Free Speech Union (@SpeechUnion) November 17, 2025

Britain’s police state unmasked: Map reveals shocking numbers clapped in handcuffs over ‘offensive’ social media posts https://t.co/oEMwjRK2Go
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) November 15, 2025

Cumbria police topped the list with 42.5 arrests per 100,000 population—20 times higher than Staffordshire’s 2.1. Six forces refused to release figures, meaning the true total is likely far higher.

Free speech fightback against social media arrests mapped: 200,000 Brits sign petition against jailing people for ‘offensive’ social media posts – so how many are in YOUR area? https://t.co/6xLCrpr8XJ
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) November 16, 2025
As we reported earlier this year, Britain now averages 30 speech arrests daily—Toby Young of the Free Speech Union described it as “a national scandal” and warned the UK is becoming “the North Korea of the North Sea.”

The map spotlights absurd prosecutions, like comedy writer Graham Linehan’s 2025 Heathrow arrest by five armed officers for three gender-critical tweets; a 71-year-old ex-cop detained eight hours for mocking a pro-Palestine activist, with officers mocking his “very Brexity” books; and parents raided at dawn over “sarcastic” school emails, held for 11 hours in front of their crying daughter, with eventually no charges filed.

These join a long list of horrors: women grilled at home over Facebook posts, men cuffed for WhatsApp gripes, and even a Telegraph journalist visited for a year-old tweet, as well as an endless list of other cases.

Maya Thomas of Big Brother Watch warns that “The UK is unfortunately gaining an international reputation as a country where online speech is policed with more enthusiasm than the types of crime causing people the most anxiety.”

🤐British police have made a huge number of CHILLING arrests over social media posts
“The government should immediately re-examine the laws that allow for this scale of arrest for online speech & rescue the UK’s worsening civil liberties reputation” – Maya Thomas, legal & policy… pic.twitter.com/5W5zeYThCu
— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) November 17, 2025
David Spencer of Policy Exchange added, “When Chief Constables choose to use their finite resources on policing social media, it means they are not using that resource to tackle knife crime, sexual offences and shoplifting.”

LOOK AT THAT
UK tops the list for arrests for online comments.
We’re higher than China, Belarus, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
And Keir Starmer has the nerve to tell the world we have freedom of speech.
Liar. pic.twitter.com/rF89bEQvM7
— Basil the Great (@BasilTheGreat) November 1, 2025
To accommodate this speech crackdown, the government began releasing violent criminals early—up to 1,700 by September 2024—while jailing people for “hurty words.” Officers have openly admitted on bodycam they’re too busy chasing online posts to investigate burglaries.

To make matters worse, schools in the UK now teach pupils to spot “extremist content and misinformation online,” turning British classrooms into training grounds for tomorrow’s thought police—straight out of Orwell’s 1984.

This curriculum risks stifling curiosity, fostering division, and weaponizing children against parents or peers for “offensive” views—eroding family bonds in a nation already jailing the outspoken.

As the UK polices pixels over predators, and Starmer’s speech gulag expands, President Trump has dispatched a free-speech squad to probe erosions, meeting jailed activists and tying trade deals to rights.

Trump Sent A ‘Free Speech Squad’ To The UK To Investigate Erosion Of Rights

Trump is now actively offering political asylum to persecuted Brits—from silent prayer protesters to gender-critical feminists.

This map is the smoking gun proving Britain no longer polices crime—it polices thought. While streets bleed, keyboards are handcuffed. The question is no longer if the UK is a police state, but how much longer the British people will tolerate it.

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Tyler Durden
Tue, 11/18/2025 – 05:00