"The Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan was once known for his charming, sometimes surreal sitcoms- Father Ted, Black Books, The IT Crowd -on British TV. These days, however, he is better known for his online crusade against transgender activism. His X feed takes the same approach as Libs of TikTok, cherry-picking videos of criminals and fetishists in a full-scale assault on "gender ideology.""
"Assuming that Linehan's account is correct, then his arrest is totalitarian, absurd, and a waste of police time. It is also symptomatic of a wider chill on free speech in Europe, where the selective deployment of laws over hate speech, offense, and incitement has turned the police into the enforcers of progressive values and given them enormous discretionary power. American readers will be used to conservatives claiming censorship at the slightest provocation, even as they enjoy the First Amendment's protection from government action."
Graham Linehan transitioned from successful British sitcom writer to prominent online critic of transgender activism, using X to amplify clips and denunciations. British police arrested him on return from the United States, accusing him of inciting violence based on three social-media posts, including one encouraging physical assault in hypothetical female-only spaces. Authorities reportedly have not denied Linehan's account and outlets treated his description as credible. Critics label the arrest totalitarian and symptomatic of a wider chill on free speech in Europe, citing selective enforcement of hate-speech and incitement laws that grants police broad discretionary power.
Read at The Atlantic
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