mercatornet.com
2024-11-26
Allison Pearson, a journalist at The Telegraph, recently found herself at the centre of a police investigation based on an allegation that one of her social media posts was "likely or intended to cause racial hatred". Three separate police forces and one "gold group" crime unit had been mobilised to investigate a hate speech complaint against the journalist.
On Sunday, 10 November, she was visited in her home in Essex, England, by two police officers in connection with material she had posted to X in November 2023. In an interview on GB News, Ms Pearson said that the police officers would not reveal which post of hers they were investigating, or who had made the accusation against her. She was "invited" to assist the investigation by coming to the police station for an interview at a later date.
The way Allison Pearson was targeted by the police should give pause to those who think law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear from hate speech legislation. This case raises serious questions about the state of the British legal system and, more generally, the impact of hate speech laws on the liberties we in the West take for granted.