Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, criticises UK police forces for prioritising the arrest of people over online comments rather than tackling rising street crime such as shoplifting and mobile phone theft. He argues this stems from senior officers and government figures viewing platforms like X, YouTube and Facebook as threats to social order, leading to a heavy-handed approach he brands "be kind" authoritarianism that risks chilling free speech in a country with a long democratic tradition.

The piece cites a Big Brother Watch report finding some police forces make up to 14 times more arrests per capita than others for online offences, suggesting inconsistent enforcement driven from the top rather than local policing needs. Young notes the Free Speech Union has defended over 6,500 people since 2020, with "sex and gender" the largest case category, and highlights writer Graham Linehan's arrest by five armed officers over a single tweet, for which he later received £25,000 compensation from the Met. Young points out only around one in five such arrests results in conviction, arguing the sheer volume still discourages open discussion of issues like immigration and trans rights.