The #QueensSpeech today referenced to a string of draconian laws the Government is planning to introduce. Big Brother Watch will have its ποΈ on the following:
πThe Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: which will create 10-year sentences for protests that risk "annoyance", "inconvenience" or "disease", and reintroduce digital strip searches.
The Electoral Integrity Bill: which introduces #VoterID will prevent many thousands of people voting, despite no evidence of systemic ballot box fraud and only 1 fraud conviction per 20 million votes cast in the last 2 General Elections.
The Online Safety Bill: which introduces state-sanctioned monitoring and censorship of lawful expression online on a scale never before seen in a liberal democracy.
In the #QueensSpeech, the Government claimed it will strengthen democracy, protect free speech and uphold human rights - because they know this is what the public wants.
But their plans will do just the OPPOSITE.
This is a Govnt that has a nightmare legislative program in the pipeline and has spent the last year criminalising anything from demonstrations to sitting on a park bench, all by Ministerial diktat.
β Keep up with our fight for your civil liberties β¬οΈ
Every month since the first #lockdown we have been publishing reports that document + analyse:
Complex lockdown laws π
Erratic policing π
Criminal justice failures β
Growing biosurveillance systems π‘
Attacks on protest rights πͺ§
March and April were no different.
As well as crackdowns on those attending vigils, *more* unlawful fines + prosections under complex lockdown laws & the continued evasion of Parliamentary scrutiny... the Government has made it clear they're pursuing Covid ID cards.
ποΈ For MONTHS Govnt ruled out Covid passes for domestic use.
Today Baroness @SalBrinton asked why there are plans for "unreliable tests as the mainstay for its passport scheme when ministers and experts have said this is wrong?"
π "Can the Minister guarantee maximum transparency during the review - and commercial #lobbying for such certificates in particular..?"
Baroness Chakrabarti warns of the risks of Covid passes to discrimination and privacy rights.
π£οΈFacebook + Twitterβs content moderation policies have risked stifling open debate on public health policies over the last year.
Today, a Parliamentary Committee looking at free speech online asked the platforms what competency they have to play judge & jury on public debateβ¬οΈ
Head of UK Public Policy at #Twitter was asked about why the platform marked a Tweet by a Professor of medicine at @harvardmed as "misleading" and limited the users' ability to share the Tweet.
How qualified was a fact-checker for Facebook to decide a Professor from @UniofOxford published 'false' information?
π¨BREAKING: The COVID-status certificate βtrialsβ are not going ahead.
Itβs unclear if they ever truly existed.
Thread! π§΅
At the start of April, the Government said it would trial COVID-status certificates to allow entry to 9 βpilotβ events in April and May... /1
However, reports conflicted on whether the COVID-status certificates to be trialled would start with test results only - or the long-term plan for vaccine, test and antibody statuses. /2
The 1st event was reported to be a comedy club in Liverpool. Only, the club had no idea about certification plans & had only signed up for testing research.
The owners tried to contact @DCMS, but got no reply.