Keir Starmer was last night accused of an ‘obsession with censorship’ after it emerged an elite team of police officers will monitor social media posts to quell riots.
Detectives are set to be drawn from forces around the country as the Government scrambles to crack down on potential violence by flagging up early signs of civil unrest online.
It comes amid fears Britain could face another summer of disorder just 12 months after a wave of riots following the Southport murders.
Demonstrations have flared up outside The Bell Hotel, in Epping, Essex, after an Ethiopian asylum seeker was charged with sexual offences against a schoolgirl.
Protesters – and counter-protesters from Stand Up to Racism – gathered outside the hotel again yesterday, with more demos planned at other migrant hotels including in Wolverhampton, Cheshire and Canary Wharf, amid local concerns about hotels being used to accommodate single male migrants.
The new National Internet Intelligence Investigations team, assembled by the Home Office, will aim to ‘maximise social media intelligence’ after police forces were heavily criticised for their handling of last year’s riots.
But critics say the social media crackdown is ‘disturbing’ and raises concerns for free speech.
It also comes after footage emerged of Essex Police escorting pro-migrant protesters to the Epping hotel before clashes broke out.
Keir Starmer (pictured earlier this week) was last night accused of an ‘obsession with censorship’ after it emerged an elite team of police officers will monitor social media posts to quell riots
Detectives are set to be drawn from forces around the country as the Government scrambles to crack down on potential violence by flagging up early signs of civil unrest online. Pictured: Anti-migrant demonstrations at the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe, near Norwich, on July 26, 2025
It comes amid fears Britain could face another summer of disorder just 12 months after a wave of riots following the Southport murders. Pictured: A protester jumps up and down on the roof of a police van at a protest on July 17 outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex
Independent MP Rupert Lowe said: ‘Another day in Starmer’s dystopian two-tier Britain.’
He has written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper about the ‘dangerous development’, asking: ‘Why is funding being prioritised for online speech surveillance instead of increasing front-line policing or addressing the causes of the migrant hotel protests?’
Madeleine Stone, of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said the new unit to monitor social media was ‘another example of this Government’s obsession with censorship and eerily reminiscent of the Covid-era counter-disinformation units, which faced huge backlash.’
The Home Office was contacted for comment. A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesman said: ‘Forces will continue to facilitate the right to peaceful protest,’ adding that they were ‘closely monitoring the latest intelligence to ensure we are best placed to respond swiftly to reports of serious disorder.
‘We have mechanisms in place, enhanced following last summer, to enable us to mobilise resources at a regional and national level if required.’
