At London City Hall: we are straight into the impact on the poor overworked police of recent protests and none of the panel accept there is evidence the last year is the most intense period the Met has faced. Lord Walnut will eventually of course - but he's late for the meeting Asked how the Met has dealt with this, Kirsty Brimelow KC makes the point that recent anti-protest laws and the lowering of the level of what is considered "serious disruption" has itself led to a greater willingness to make arrests.

🧵 Up and down the country, people are starting to organise to resist threats of far-right violence, often on WhatsApp and will little thought of the potential for targeting by police surveillance. A thread on how to keep each other safe We recommend anyone sending instant messages or setting up chat groups for political organising use a secure platform like Signal, to protect their privacy solidarity.netpol.org/how-and-why-to…

Under its new definition of extremism, Britain's far-right government is, of course, more guilty than anyone of promoting "violence, hatred or intolerance" against "the fundamental rights and freedoms of others" and of undermining democratic rights bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi… The creation of a new Orwellian-sounding "Counter-Extremism Centre of Excellence" is the indicator of what this new definition is really about: providing the justification for expanding state surveillance on groups that oppose it.

We've received more reports that @metpoliceuk is leaning heavily on organisations raising aid funds for Palestinians, undoubtedly as a result of the intervention of the Home Secretary Yesterday officers pressured one venue where event publicity uses the phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" saying unless it is removed, it could lead to charges for a racially motivated offence. Police also demanded the names and numbers of event organisers

Huge thanks to @BigBrotherWatch for producing a guide for Netpol on police use of facial recognition at protests, for campaigners and legal observers. Find out how to spot live facial recognition (LFR) vans and help to monitor the spread of this technology https://t.co/0VNjDd0tWenetpol.org/2023/07/31/fac…
Live facial recognition identifies people in real-time, using AI-powered surveillance to compare a live CCTV feed against a watchlist. Everyone who passes in front of the camera will have their face scanned and their ‘face print’ processed.

The Home Office has finally confirmed it will collate and publish data on the use of police powers to restrict protests, following sustained pressure from Netpol and our supporters netpol.org/2023/06/20/pre… #DefendDissent @JustStop_Oil @libertyhq This delay is three years after greater transparency was recommended by Parliament’s @HumanRightsCtte, and comes despite almost all usage of powers to restrict protests resulting from just one force – the Metropolitan Police.

It has been 'subversive', 'agitator', then 'extremist'. Now the police are labelling campaigners demanding genuine alternatives to the mess Britain is in right now as "aggravated activists". On 15 February 2023, we are reclaiming that label as our own on #AggravatedActivism Day Amidst a growing intolerance towards the right to protest, Netpol has been keen to remind everyone that protest is not illegal – not yet – but it has become a lot more uncertain. Together, we need to create the conditions to challenge the spread of uncertainty.

🧵 COMMENT: police ‘not knowing’ whether protest is permitted is deliberate – and it has to end (1/10) netpol.org/2022/09/15/com… The police response to anti-monarchy protests has been familiar: faced with demonstrators whose legitimacy officers reject, even the most innocuous demonstrations (like holding up a card or a few shouted words) have been quickly closed down (2/10)

Okay sure, offer accepted

https://twitter.com/EveningStandard/status/1569751784804990976

A reminder officers previously threatened to quit over the killing of Azelle Rodney thetimes.co.uk/article/armed-…

🧵 A short thread on the proposed new public order bill that the government will include in the Queen's Speech next Monday: These new police powers were floated before by Boris Johnson in October 2021 as a knee-jerk reaction to what he called “illegitimate protests” involving civil disobedience against government inaction on the climate crisis

https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1444678486464077827

🧵 With the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act about to become law, what's important now is not to panic or despair but to get ready to resist - a short thread on the new law's protest provisions 1. Many of the Act's new protest powers are poorly defined with the Home Secretary deciding the meaning of terms like “serious disruption”. In practice, the police will choose when and how to impose restrictions on protests, opening the door for widespread abuse. That means...

Our 2015 campaign "Together Against Prevent" gets a mention in this Policy Exchange report. Not sure how we're part of a "raucous Islamist opposition" though: our campaign specifically argued that collectively campaigners must not leave Muslim communities to resist Prevent alone

https://twitter.com/Policy_Exchange/status/1518849824191397889

Policy Exchange points the finger at Muslim opponents of Prevent and throws around accusations that "delegitimising counter terrorism risks enabling terrorism" because this means avoiding widespread condemnation of Prevent from a wide spectrum of human rights organisations

As 2021 draws to a close, it's time to reflect back on what, for Netpol, has been an enormously busy - and worrying - twelve months Having predicted new anti-protest legislation last year, we were ready in March 2021 to resist the government's alarming Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Our response was the launch of a new Charter for Freedom of Assembly Rights netpol.org/2021/03/09/pro…

A protester standing outside Conservative Party conference in Manchester with a handmade sign reading "Priti Fascist", during the Home Secretary's speech to delegates, was arrested and bundled into a police van.

He's not wrong, is he? #PritiFascist He was subsequently "dearrested" but how on earth does @gmpolice justify this fundamental denial of rights to freedom of expression and assembly? #PritiFascist

The Home Secretary has announced even greater police powers than those already in the PCSC Bill: an amendment so protesters who block the highway could face unlimited fines and up to six months in jail It's also reported police will also receive powers to stop and search activists for “lock-on” equipment. This was something we warned about last year and was recommended by HMIC in a thematic review of protest policing back in March

Why were thousands marching today to #KillTheBill? One reason is the government's new policing bill "creates is a situation where far more protests, far more often, are likely to face the prospect of having conditions imposed on them" netpol.org/2021/04/13/exp… "We know from experience that the police are already quick to impose restrictions and conditions on protests, which is why any organisation that is likely to make its voice heard noisily should feel alarmed by the bill’s public order proposals"

1/ Met Deputy Chief Stephen House today criticised @SistersUncut and the #SarahEverard vigil for sharing what to do when faced with police oppression.

House basically has a problem with tweets like this (so you defo should RT it):

https://twitter.com/SistersUncut/status/1371115000442585098

@SistersUncut 2/ House said the tweet was a “typical preparatory tweet before a demonstration, but not before a vigil”.

There is so much wrong with this arguement it is staggering. *Takes a deep breath.*

Mum and son 'threatened with social services' by police officer after attending Sarah Everard vigil in Liverpool #FreedomToProtest liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool… Threats to set social services onto women protesters with children, or report disabled protesters to the Department for Work & Pensions, were reported to us many times by the anti-fracking movement. These were all attempts to disrupt their campaigns

As the government seeks to push through new draconian public order laws, thousands of people are demanding a fundamental change. So what does our Charter for Freedom of Assembly Rights actually say? netpol.org/2021/03/15/tho… #FreedomToProtest 1. Public assemblies need not only facilitation, but also protection

As over 100,000 people sign our petition opposing The Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill, convincing a Tory government with an 80-seat majority is tough. That’s why Netpol is also making equally tough demands on @PoliceChiefs who lobbied for new legislation netpol.org/2021/03/15/tho… We need to #KillTheBill but we need more. We've two simple demands on the police. Either set out what "respecting international human rights standards" for policing protests means in practice or say why you won't. Enough guessing what restrictions you'll impose on our rights next

Today we are helping students from @OfficialUoM publicise their "Report on Police Harassment on Manchester University Campus 2020-2021" and their call for #copsoffcampus. Read their guest post and download the report netpol.org/2021/03/12/cop… 📷: courtesy of @GBCMANCHESTER