British civil servants are reportedly undergoing training to identify and address what they deem “risky speech” on social media, particularly comments critical of the country’s mass immigration policies.
The Government Communications Service (GCS) has been assigned by the government to counter what they label “disinformation” while simultaneously promoting government narratives online.
This initiative, referred to as the “Resist Framework,” involves training officials to pinpoint “high-risk discourse” — that is, online posts voicing concerns about multifamily housing, which they suggest could negatively affect “new immigrants” and ethnic minorities.
The GCS was formed in response to widespread protests against government plans to house migrants in hotels, sparked by a serious incident involving an Ethiopian immigrant and a young girl in Epping. As it stands, taxpayer money is being used to accommodate around 32,000 mostly young, unvetted undocumented men in hotels across the nation.
During the unrest, GCS reportedly hired the social media monitoring company Storygy for £36,000 to instruct civil servants on identifying posts that could “worsen community tensions and deepen existing divisions”.
Common red flags include statements like ‘Certain communities are getting priority housing while local families wait years’ and ‘Councils are secretly planning hundreds of homes that will transform our neighbourhoods’.
They were also cautioned about “harmful speech” from figures such as “local parent-teacher association representatives.” These individuals might link to questionable local news websites to support their viewpoints or form private groups to rally local residents and share concerns.
Moreover, local councils received guidance on addressing frustrations related to “asylum seekers being settled in hotels and vacant military bases” and the abrupt closure of hotels for this purpose. Councils were encouraged to “pre-fabricate” alleged disinformation surrounding the hotel immigration scheme.
In response to this report, Reform UK MP Lee Anderson remarked, “This government has approved the largest invasion of our shores in modern history. This situation warrants thorough scrutiny, and the British public has every right to voice their opinions.”
“This nation has upheld free speech for centuries, and it’s a pity to see this Labour government undermining it,” he continued. “We need a government that prioritizes the people’s interests and does not penalize them for expressing their views. Only reform can achieve that.”
Meanwhile, Lewis Blackpool, research head for Restore Britain, a political movement led by independent MP Rupert Lowe, mentioned that the group has filed a “coordinated series of freedom of information requests” to uncover the extent, structure, and intent of this surveillance initiative. They aim to clarify what the government is tracking, how “high-risk stories” are defined, and who sanctioned it.
The government maintains it is “dedicated to safeguarding individuals online while respecting freedom of expression, ensuring that the internet doesn’t turn into a refuge for those wishing to spread harm, both online and offline.”
They pointed to the recently enacted Online Safety Act, which criminalizes “unlawful false communications” and empowers the UK’s broadcasting regulator Ofcom to levy substantial fines against social media platforms that fail to adequately address misinformation and hate speech.
Even before these new censorship measures, the British government had already been actively working to suppress dissenting voices, especially collaborating with social media platforms to monitor and stifle criticism of China’s stringent lockdown during the pandemic.
