Today, a detailed map has highlighted the regions in the UK that are actively opposing the imprisonment of individuals over social media posts. This movement comes as nearly 200,000 people nationwide have rallied behind a petition challenging the jailing of individuals for what are deemed ‘offensive’ online remarks. Their support underscores a growing public unease about potential threats to free speech.

Initiated by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, the petition is slated for parliamentary debate on Monday, November 17. Lowe’s petition raises “serious public concern” regarding the fairness and appropriateness of sentences in cases related to online expression.

Rupert Lowe, a 68-year-old businessman-turned-politician, who has recently formed a connection with Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform X, expressed in the petition that “imprisoning individuals for posts on social media sets a dangerous precedent.”

He further emphasized that this issue touches on broader questions related to freedom of speech, the proportionality of legal responses, and the efficient use of limited prison resources.

The 68-year-old businessman turned politician, who has become friendly with X owner Elon Musk, wrote ‘we believe imprisoning individuals for posts on social media sets a dangerous precedent’.

He added that the issue raises wider questions about freedom of expression, proportionality in sentencing, and the misuse of limited prison resources.

Instead, the petition states that alternative sanctions, such as fines or community service, would be more appropriate.

Mr Lowe’s constituency, Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, had the highest rate of signatories with 1,074 out of a population of 100,529 backing it – a rate of 1.07%.

The debate over the policing of social media arrests was brought to the forefront of the public’s mind when Lucy Connolly, the wife of a Conservative councillor, was jailed for stirring up racial hatred in the aftermath of the Southport attack. 

She received a 31-month custodial sentence, believed to be the longest for a single social media post, in what critics have argued is evidence of two-tier policing.

In a tweet, which she removed after three hours after it had been viewed by 310,000 people, she called for ‘mass deportation now’, adding: ‘Set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it.’

She was subsequently arrested, charged, and despite being a first-time offender who posed little flight risk, refused bail.

The subsequent prosecution would eventually see her serve a total of 377 nights behind bars, or more than a week for each of the 51 words she’d originally uploaded. 

In May, she had an appeal against her sentence refused by three Court of Appeal judges at the Royal Courts of Justice. 

Supporters viewed Connolly, whose husband Ray is a Conservative councillor in their hometown of Northampton, as a political prisoner who received a grotesquely excessive sentence for committing an isolated and relatively minor offence in which no-one was physically harmed.

The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, at one point told Parliament he would ‘always support’ the courts in such cases.

But Tory leader Kemi Badenoch weighed in, arguing that Connolly’s ‘punishment was harsher than the sentences handed down for bricks thrown at police or actual rioting’.

Ms Badenoch contrasted her fate with that of former Labour councillor Ricky Jones, who was charged with encouraging violent disorder after being filmed calling for anti-migrant protesters to have their throats slit, but ‘pleaded not guilty and was acquitted by a jury who saw his words as a disgusting remark made in the heat of the moment, not a call to action.’

Connolly’s case later became international news, with US officials saying earlier this year they are keeping tabs on developments over their ‘concerns’ about free speech.

A State Department spokesman said in May: ‘We can confirm that we are monitoring this matter. The United States supports freedom of expression at home and abroad, and remains concerned about infringements on freedom of expression.’

It came after political commentator and Trump ally Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in September, was made aware of Connolly’s ordeal after a visit to the UK and vowed to get the US State Department involved in the process.

Since her release in August, Connolly has become a political figure, being loudly cheered by the Reform UK crowd as she made her way onto the main stage of the party’s conference in Birmingham in September.

She told the conference she would have ‘loved the opportunity’ to plead not guilty but believed the ‘quickest way back to my family’ was pleading guilty.

Connolly also claimed that photographs of her daughter, sent by her husband when she was locked up, were censored by prison authorities.

Reform leader Nigel Farage, whose party have long campaigned for Connolly’s release, said he was ‘delighted that she is free at last’, and said that ‘her unfair punishment makes her an important figure as we fight to get free speech back’.

The outcry that the police are wasting their time prosecuting social media crimes has increased because official figures show that 90% of all crime went unsolved in 2023, up from 75% in 2015.

Brits have been left angered, as they usually receive only a crime reference number if their phone is stolen, making it seem as if Britain’s criminal justice system is investigating online messages more vigorously than other crimes.

Indeed, the vast majority of thefts, robberies and burglaries dealt with by the police in 2024 had their case closed without a single suspect even being identified.

Only 7% of adults say online hate crimes should be a ‘top priority’ for police to investigate, instead saying they would much rather they dealt with violence, burglary, robbery and drug-dealing, according to polling by the Policy Exchange think tank.

But sending mean posts online, particularly from a named account, is very easy for the police to identify suspects, so unsurprisingly, around two-thirds of these crimes have a named suspect.

The Met was the first force to have a team dedicated to monitoring social media posts, although today every force in the country has one.  

Jemimah Steinfeld, the chief executive of the Index on Censorship pressure group, told the Daily Mail: ‘Lines like when offensive expression becomes genuine incitement can be difficult to draw. 

‘In our digitised world, where so much of our speech is now recorded and where it’s impact is still not fully grasped, we’ve been left exposed to the whims of individual police forces. 

‘But do we want a system where someone can be questioned by one officer for speech that another officer might not see as problematic? 

‘If we want to protect a pluralistic speech environment, the threshold for criminal speech must remain very high, and that must be something universally acknowledged.’

In response to the petition, the government has released a lengthy statement praising freedom of expression as a ‘cornerstone of our democratic society’.

A spokesman said: ‘The sentencing framework provides courts with a range of sentencing powers alongside imprisonment, including fines, community sentences, and suspended sentences. 

‘The law also makes clear that imprisonment should only be imposed where no other sentence would be appropriate. 

‘We do not consider it necessary or appropriate to revisit the sentencing framework and we currently have no plans to review the penalties for these types of offences.’