Green Party blogger: Jenny Jones's letter to Theresa May

14 May 2014

Jenny Jones' letter to Theresa May

The recent reports of Cambridgeshire Police visiting a Green Party blogger after a complaint by a UKIP councillor of online criticism of UKIP raises interesting questions of how to deal with the relatively new crimes committed on social media and how the police can react to them. 

In this case, the police themselves have admitted that nothing illegal took place, yet they visited the blogger anyway. 

For me, this suggests a recklessness in the face of competing police resources, time and energy, not to mention a potential infringement of the blogger's civil liberties, so I urge you to do two things as soon as possible. 

First, you should initiate a short investigation into the procedures of Cambridgeshire Police, that allowed two officers to visit someone after a complaint that did not contain a justifiable reason for the visit. 

Secondly, Home Office advice should be written and circulated as quickly as possible to all forces, outlining what is and what isn’t illegal on social media. 

Jenny Jones AM

Green Party