‘Medieval forms of justice!’ Frank Furedi fears free speech in Britain is in peril after ‘disturbing development’

The investigation has sparked outrage among free speech advocates and public figures, including X owner Elon Musk.

Officers visited Pearson's home at 9:40am on Remembrance Sunday to inform her she was being investigated over a post made on X, formerly Twitter, from a year ago.

The 64-year-old columnist said she was "accused of a non-crime hate incident" related to "stirring up racial hatred".

Pearson described the situation as "surreal", noting that officers would not disclose the contents of the allegedly offending post.

A year prior to the visit, she had frequently commented on the October 7 massacre in Israel and subsequent pro-Palestinian marches in London.

Furedi told GB News: "The police is essentially making up rules as they go along and they're using medieval types of accusitory justice where we're not told who's initiated a claim against an individual."

He warned that police "already assume someone has been violated" without proper judicial process.

"The definition of hate and hate crime is expanding all the time, to a point where you're not allowed to say something slightly disagreeable," Furedi added.

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Free speech campaigner Brendan O'Neill also condemned the investigation as "Stalinist", telling GB News it was "despairing and terrifying".

"The fact that we have police officers knocking on a journalist's door in Britain in 2024 should send a chill down the collective spine," O'Neill said.

Conservative MP Chris Philp called on officers to stop attempts to "police thought".

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith called the incident "outrageous", adding: "What we are seeing is the police force turning into the thought police."

Essex Police confirmed they are investigating a report passed to them by another force regarding a social media post that was subsequently removed.

"An investigation is now being carried out under section 17 of the Public Order Act," a police spokesman said.

The spokesman added that officers attended an address on Sunday November 10 "to invite a woman to attend a voluntary interview on the matter."

The police have indicated that the alleged post is being investigated as a criminal matter.