The arrest of Father Ted’s co-creator over social media posts has reignited arguments over what you should and shouldn’t be allowed to say online.
Graham Linehan, who also created the Black Books and The IT Crowd comedies, said on Tuesday he was arrested at Heathrow Airport over posts on X sharing his views on trans rights.
In one of his posts, Linehan said: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”
Now, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told Sky News the government needs to look at whether police are “getting the balance right”, and that the government would rather see “police on the streets rather than policing tweets”.
X owner Elon Musk also questioned the priorities of the British police after Linehan’s arrest and has previously called Britain a “tyrannical police state”.
So what kind of posts could get you in trouble with the law?
The type of posts most hotly debated in the last year are around hate speech and extremism.
Posts that stir up racial or religious hatred, promote violence or are deemed hate-motivated harassment are all illegal.
Hate speech and harassment
Although they were already outlawed by bills like 1986’s Public Order Act, the Online Safety Act of 2023 gave the authorities stronger guidelines and powers when dealing with hate speech online.
This hit the headlines last year when riots swept the UK in the wake of Axel Rudakubana’s murder of three young girls in Southport.
Hundreds of people were arrested, with a number of those detained because of their social media posts. Childminder Lucy Connolly was one of them – she was released in August after nine months in prison.
She had pleaded guilty to publishing written material to stir up racial…
