Americas Biggest Ally Now Has Special Thought Police Unit to Track Down Online TrollsBy Claire Bernish Expected to run for two years at a cost of $2.2 million (1.7 million) of which the Home Office will contribute $581,000 (450,000) the London Mayors Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) believes severely curtailing free speech is necessary due to the increasing role that online hate played in targeting individuals and communities. Online abusers, the Mayors Office said, operate behind a veil of anonymity, making conventional policing of hate difficult due to lack of skills and equipment so authorities have allotted the budget for the creation of a police-civilian alliance to report spewers of venom to police. By establishing this unit, explained a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police cited by the Business Standard of the Online Hate Crime Hub, we are sending a strong message to those who use online forums to spread hate that their actions will not be tolerated. The Metropolitan Police Service continues to have a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of hate crime. The Met encourages all victims of hate crime to report any incident to police and will make every effort to hold offenders to account and bring them to justice. To be perfectly clear, what authorities consider a worthy of reporting in this instance amounts to little more the vitriolic rhetoric criminal and non-criminal incidents a term so nebulous and subjective in nature, this extirpation project represents both a dangerous precedent and the slipperiest of slopes. Critics, justifiably alarmed at the prospect of thought police, have posited the program will not only nullify the free speech bastion the Internet represents, but could lead to arrests for online jokes or offensive posts or worse. Theres a risk of online vigilantism, where people who are offended by the least thing will have a licence to report it to police, cautioned Andrew Allison of the libertarian group, Freedom Association, the Daily Mail reported. If this recalls for you George Orwells government-loyal child Spies from the dystopian portent 1984, you wouldnt be far from the truth. In fact, in one example cited by the Daily Mail, a mother of two found herself the subject of a police inquiry after writing on friends Facebook post that she wanted to throw an egg at David Cameron. Yes, seriously. Desiring to toss an egg at a politician hardly seems relevant to fighting actual crimes of harm but as an illustration of the potential for offhand comments of no malintent to be perceived as criminal in nature, it handily does the job. And the non-threat of an egg isnt the only absurd example. A relative posted a photo to Facebook of three Siddiqui family members clad in camouflage during a paintballing expedition with the obviously jocular caption, ISIS training day but the family promptly received a visit from police officers. Police are becoming moral arbiters rather than dealing with real issues that threaten our security, asserted Frank Furedi, University of Kent professor emeritus of sociology. For Americans unnerved by the U.S. continued toying with legislation and court rulings designed to quell the fundamental right to free speech, the U.K. presents a case study in how quickly political correctness can run amok. Last year, laws aimed at combating malicious communication received a frightening update: Online trolls can now be jailed for up to two years. But trolls were already landing behind bars in record numbers. According to a report from the Telegraph, 694 people went to jail for online trolling in 2014 the rough equivalent of two each day and, worse, 70 juveniles were among the astonishing 1,501 people prosecuted under the law prior to both its update and the new thought police program. Whatever auspicious intent might underlie the creation of this civilian-police allied unit is utterly lost to its potential to damn innocent people guilty of nothing more than offending the thin-skinned among us to possible jail time. We want more police on the street, said Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, not thought police. Online bullying is an increasingly serious problem but police should not be proactively seeking cases like these and turning themselves into chatroom moderators. With such measures, even if well-intentioned, there is a very real danger of undermining our very precious freedom of speech. A glaring omission of the Online Hate Crime Hubs statement of (purported) purpose is the lack of any tolerance education program for the perpetually offended the creation of which could foundationally fight the hate speech the Hub claims to desire obliterating. Its now very common to hear people say, Im rather offended by that. As if that gives them certain rights, said English comedian, actor, writer, and activist, Stephen Fry, in 2005. Its actually nothing more than a whine. I find that offensive. It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. I am offended by that. Well, so fucking what. As per government usual, the rush to apply superficial bandages to the problem of online hate speech provides the vehicle for far worse governmental intrusion into our private lives later on. Literally policing speech is the kissing cousin of policing thought when it seems the whole world just needs a lesson in the age-old adage you might know something about sticks and stones? Claire Bernish writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared. Careful what you say about you know whoand we all know who is behind this. Was I being circumspect enough? Want to keep this kind of crap out of America? WEAR RED FOR TRUMP! Spread the word Cool. Im in. The 180 RuleGovernments stated objectives and its true intentions are in direct opposition to one another. It would be easier to tax the internet, bit by bit. Well so *%#@ what? I can tell the author of this piece that I am extremely offended by dirty language meant to shock. I consider it a personal assault! Its no wonder the UK has problems tracking jihadists theyre too busy tracking their own citizens! 