The police force of Wiltshire, England, received considerable mockery earlier today over a tweeted pledge to track down trolls who “spew abuse from behind a computer screen.”
You can't hide from us if your spewing abuse from behind a computer screen. Our boys & gals in blue will find you 💻 ὄ#999WhatsYourEmergency
— Wiltshire Police (@wiltshirepolice) July 24, 2017
The tweet is typical of British police forces, who have taken to embarrassing themselves on social media in recent years with their public pledges, which range from the comically trivial to the Orwellian.
In this instance, Wiltshire police received considerable mockery over their misspelling of the word “you’re.”
Great. Illiterate and Orwellian…. https://t.co/1Wq9YaELY0
— Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) July 25, 2017
1. It's *you're* not your.
2. Your obsession with policing speech is repugnant.
3. Delete your account, you diabolical arseclowns. https://t.co/GjpzWt5O4j— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) July 25, 2017
I pity you British folks, I really do. The police there can't even properly use "you're".
Oh yeah and they're Orwell-level dystopian. https://t.co/H1bYiSp0k6
— Styxhexenhammer666 (@Styx666Official) July 25, 2017
When censorship comes it will be gleeful, complete with emojis and poor grammar https://t.co/pL1AMStXZW
— aspiring slum lord (@tangemess) July 25, 2017
I feel abused by the grammar in this tweet. https://t.co/BOqMu5lksw
— Woxxy (@woxxy) July 24, 2017
Others just called them out.
https://twitter.com/getongab/status/889718191873695746
https://twitter.com/notwokieleaks/status/889624471174340611
Other Twitter users focused on the British police’s apparent mistaken priorities, or simply mock them.
I guess it's easier to arrest people complaining about terrorists than to arrest terrorists. https://t.co/07nK2NuN9H
— Ezra Levant 🍁 (@ezralevant) July 25, 2017
Maybe if less people were going after meanies on Twitter there would be enough manpower to go after acid throwers. Just a suggestion. https://t.co/RVAUaEXoLS
— Gryffix 🇳🇱 (@Gryffix) July 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/ninjamoose101/status/889755705174917120
https://twitter.com/_Ramesses_II/status/889619434838650881
Britain leads the way in western online censorship, and now has a notorious reputation for putting citizens on trial over tweets. Prime Minister Theresa May has long been a supporter of tighter state control over the internet, and under her premiership and that of her predecessor, David Cameron, the U.K. has drifted further and further towards censorship.
May’s Conservative party manifesto did not even attempt to conceal her goals for regulating the web, boasting that her next government would make Britain “the global leader in the regulation of the use of personal data and the internet.”
You can follow Allum Bokhari on Twitter, Gab.ai and add him on Facebook. Email tips and suggestions to abokhari@breitbart.com.
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