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UK Gvmt Say Mask Wearing At Protests Will Soon Be Illegal

"Protesters who wear masks could face arrest, up to a month in jail and a £1,000 fine under proposed measures that human rights campaigners claim are pandering to “culture war nonsense”.

Police in England and Wales will be given the power to arrest people if they are wearing face coverings at specific demonstrations, the Home Office has said."

Been a bad 18 months or so for privacy in the UK. Online Safety Bill passed, the right to take strike action curtailed, people in receipt of benefits (including disabled people) will soon (as from 2025) have their bank accounts open to the government, the right to protest curtailed and now this.

ChallengeApathy ,

I wonder where that energy was in the 852nd month of "two weeks to flatten the curve". 🤔

LillyPip ,

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    Fisherswamp ,

    Americans with disabilities act in England? How does that work?

    LillyPip ,

    Yeah, I skimmed it, and read UK as US.

    Sorry, I have dual citizenship and sometimes conflate the two. Deleted my comment as erroneous.

    Outtatime ,
    @Outtatime@sh.itjust.works avatar

    Antifa ain't happy about that.

    delirious_owl ,
    @delirious_owl@discuss.online avatar

    Does it apply to FFP2 respirators?

    LKPU26 ,

    Are they going to arrest Muslim women with face coverings?

    porous_grey_matter ,

    Yeah lol of course, they would absolutely love any excuse to do that

    HerbalGamer ,
    @HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works avatar

    Burka-ban has already been introduced in Austria. Didn't really work because that was just before covid but they sure as shit tried.

    NigelFrobisher ,

    But they already made protest illegal.

    Rin ,

    Fuck this country. I'm moving out.

    HerbalGamer ,
    @HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works avatar

    You know what I hate about it? I've always been quite the anglophile, but never saw the chance to move there because I was uneducated.
    Now they might even want me to come and I don't think I want to anymore :(

    Mango ,

    They need the facial recognition software to do it's thing so they can make sure life gets difficult for anyone conscious of their actions.

    Xavier ,

    Hmm… I may be mistaken but can they not already arrest troublemakers, arsonists, violent/aggressive individuals and other sort of rioters/agitators with preexisting laws/bylaws/regulations ?

    On the other hand, I'm trying to see the silver lining here… perhaps this new law will make it difficult for agent provocateur¹ from operating without repercussions and anonymity unless the law specifically has a carve out for them (I wouldn't be too surprised, but it would be another major blow to the resiliency of democracy in the United Kingdom).

    Source: Pentney, K. (2021). Licensed to kill…discourse? agents provocateurs and a purposive right to freedom of expression. Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, 39(3), 241-257

    porous_grey_matter ,

    Police discretion will already make an exception for them even it's not explicitly carved out, there is no silver lining, it's just more police state shit

    fosstulate , (edited )
    @fosstulate@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

    I'm sure there'll be a carve-out to the mask prohibition. I mean, what if there's protest action a minister/police department dislikes? They need a way for their agents to don confiscated Nazi paraphernalia before joining the event to poison its media coverage, while remaining unidentifiable as state actors.

    porous_grey_matter ,

    They don't need a carve out for that, police discretion will do

    Omega_Haxors ,

    Genocide Island going back to its roots.

    reverendsteveii ,

    it will be interesting to see if we ever get to a point during the next inevitable global pandemic where masks are compulsory in some places and illegal in others

    Pssdoff ,

    They want it to be illegal to both wear and not to wear a mask so that they can selectivity enforce arbitrary laws against whomever they wish.

    fosstulate ,
    @fosstulate@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

    Like that traffic light on a rural Russian intersection that is always red

    reverendsteveii ,

    or like in America, where if the cops want to kick your door in all they have to do is say they smelled something and then it's on you to prove they didn't

    exocrinous ,

    This is like when online community moderators ban discussion of politics.

    Everything is political. If you ban politics, you can take action against anyone

    delirious_owl ,
    @delirious_owl@discuss.online avatar

    The last one hasn't ended yet

    urfavlaura ,

    that has been forbidden in Germany for years

    interdimensionalmeme ,

    What did they do during covid ? Arrest both mask wearers and nonmaskers ?

    ikidd ,
    @ikidd@lemmy.world avatar

    To police, that's a feature, not a bug.

    Omega_Haxors ,

    Of course it is, it's fucking Germany.

    Mango ,

    Because Germany is here to set a good example right?

    Tikiporch ,

    What if you're feeling unwell?

    AgentGrimstone ,

    JAIL!

    possiblylinux127 ,
    @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

    I would do it anyway in mass. I want 100 people to show up somewhere with masks.

    ZoopZeZoop ,

    100,000 people. With 100, they'll just take as many as they can. With 100k, they just have to let the sea wash over them and hope they aren't swept out with it.

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