A NEW initiative to crack down on abuse posted on social media by online trolls has been condemned by Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.
Scotland Yard want to invest millions into the new scheme dubbed the "thought police" unit, which will see 5 members of staff constantly monitor Twitter and Facebook to try and control online bullying.
Tim Farron, who is the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, said: “We want more police on the street, not thought police.
"Online bullying is an increasingly serious problem but police should not be proactively seeking cases like these and turning themselves into chatroom moderators.
"With such measures, even if well-intentioned, there is a real danger of undermining our very precious freedom of speech.”
Critics, who believe the initiative will infringe on freedom of speech, have dubbed the scheme as "thought police" in reference to the George Orwell novel 1984.
Do you this think is a good move? Should a "thought police" unit be set up? Have your say in our poll below:
<div style="margin:0 auto;max-width:640px;"><div style="width:100%;padding-top:110%;position:relative"><iframe style="position:absolute;top:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:none;" src="//www.riddle.com/a/80429?fixed=1"><section><h2>Should Scotland Yard spend £1.7m on a "thought police" unit?</h2></section><section><h3>YES - Cyber crime is a big problem and needs to be tackled</h3></section><section><h3>NO - It is a step too far and and infringes our freedom of speech</h3></section></iframe></div></div>
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