Joe Rogan said that the UK has “lost control” because of arrests for posts on social media
Joe Rogan discussed the significant number of arrests related to online speech in the UK during an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with the British comedian on Wednesday.“More than 12,000 people have been arrested in the UK in the past year for posts on social media. And if you read some of those posts, they’re not even remotely horrible,” Rogan said. He emphasized that these posts do not incite violence, but contain statements such as “Immigrants come into this bloody country and create all this crime,” which can lead to police action.Andrew Doyle, Rogan’s guest, expressed concern that Americans perceive the UK as having lost its mind. Rogan confirmed this feeling, saying, “We think so, yes, we think you have lost it.”Rogan referred to a report by the British newspaper The Times, which stated that “Police are making more than 30 arrests a day for offensive posts on social media and other platforms.” The report also stated that arrest data showed approximately 12,000 arrests annually under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988.Rogan also commented on the perception that UK leaders are deliberately undermining the country by increasing immigration and catering to migrants rather than the British population, which he believes is contributing to social chaos.Doyle coined the term “anarcho-tyranny” to describe a situation where law-abiding citizens are punished while offenders are protected. He criticized the UK’s laws against “grossly offensive” speech, saying that he considered such laws to be offensive in themselves.After Doyle spoke about an incident where a man was arrested for calling in a satirical image, Rogan noted the subjectivity of offense, suggesting that anything can be considered offensive by overly sensitive individuals.Doyle noted that the chilling effect on expression is exacerbated by police visits for unintentional crimes. He described the situation as “worse than people think,” emphasizing the disturbing nature of 12,000 annual arrests and routine police checks for non-violent behavior. He also mentioned that in Scotland, police maintain a database of offensive jokes and have proposed legislation to prosecute individuals for statements made in private.Doyle noted a disturbing trend of police visits to people’s homes to address online comments, to which Rogan responded: “That’s insane.”
