The South Wales Police have instructed their officers to record discussions about Islam and Muslims that are not deemed “legitimate”, reports The Telegraph.
What constitutes “legitimate” is unclear.
In March, the government announced a non-statutory definition of “anti-Muslim hatred” after abandoning attempts to define Islamophobia due to criticism that it would have amounted to a blasphemy law.
The government’s broad definition includes “prejudicial stereotypes of Muslims, or people perceived to be Muslims… and treating them as a collective group defined by fixed and negative characteristics, with the intention of encouraging hatred towards them, regardless of their actual opinions, beliefs or actions as individuals”.
The law is still intended to protect the right to criticise or ridicule Islam, but the Free Speech Union (FSU) fears that the directive from South Wales Police may have a chilling effect on freedom of expression, writes the English newspaper.
In a letter to the police, the FSU writes:
“Individuals are deterred from expressing religious, philosophical or political views, or from manifesting their beliefs, by the knowledge that this may result in the police categorising and recording it as an incident of hostility, despite the absence of any criminal conduct.”
The organisation argues that what is legitimate is subjective, and that it therefore becomes a matter for police officers to decide whether a statement is acceptable or not.
They contend that if an officer believes someone has crossed the line in a discussion about Islam or Muslims, they will create a report of an anti-social behaviour incident, which will then become public if the person who made the statement is subjected to security vetting by an employer.
The Free Speech Union is demanding that the police withdraw these guidelines and is threatening legal action. The organisation’s founder, Toby Young, states
that the police risk “punishing people for expressing concerns about Islam”, contrary to the protections for freedom of expression enshrined in law.
There is also concern that anti-Islam statements that are recorded may, at some point, be used against the person who made them.
The Telegraph previously revealed that the chairman of an independent police oversight panel was removed after insisting that West Yorkshire Police address “the elephant in the room” – Islamist extremism – following a terrorist attack on a synagogue.
Politicians and authorities in the United Kingdom – and Norway – are in practice whitewashing Islam and presenting it as a fundamentally positive presence in society, despite opinion polls conducted in the United Kingdom in which a majority have stated that Islam is not compatible with British values.