UK Government Official Gets Twitter Parody Account Closed Down For Mocking Politicians And Heads Of Large Companies

from the makes-you-gag dept

Thu, Feb 13th 2014 3:18pm — Glyn Moody

A couple of weeks ago, the UK passed what has become known as the "gagging bill", because it puts major restrictions on how much charities and activist groups can spend while campaigning on political issues before an election. But that wasn't the only thing the UK government was up to on the gagging front, as Tom Pride explains in a blog post:

as if to celebrate the occasion, a Twitter parody account that was critical of coalition policies was closed down after complaints were made from government officials.

The parody account was called @UKJCP, and it was a spoof of the UK's Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), which had sent the following demand via Twitter to the parody account before it was closed down: Can you stop RT tweets we have not written -- it is not satire and is confusing to customers. It also exceeds your twitter agreement.
As Pride points out: So now we've not just got government departments deciding what forms of public criticism are acceptable, but also deciding for us what exactly is humorous and what isn't.
Since the parody account was shut down by a UK government department, it was possible to put in a freedom of information request for the exact details of the takedown demand. Here's the key part (pdf): The @UKJCP account has been set up with deliberate and malicious intent to devalue and criticise the work of Jobcentre Plus [the JCP in @UKJCP]. In addition, there are a number of rude and potentially libelous tweets aimed at UK government, elected politicians and the heads of large private sector organisations who are committed to working with government on reducing unemployment.
The story has a happy ending because the parody account has now been re-instated. But as Pride comments: Apart from the obvious concern that UK government officials are openly trying to close down criticism of government, politicians and business leaders -- I'm also pretty shocked that Twitter agreed to the request.
At least Twitter changed its mind on this particular kind of gagging -- unlike the UK government. Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and +glynmoody on Google+

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Filed Under: free speech, uk
Companies: twitter

16 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 13 Feb 2014 @ 3:37pm

I imagine the very acting of trying has already resulted in dozens of copycat accounts spread all over twitter.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Feb 2014 @ 3:52pm

i'm waiting to read about anything that isn't liked concerning the election itself next year and who is stopped from donating to what other parties (wont affect the Tories. that's why they wanted this bill in!) then wait for the religious nuts to start. Cameron is a fucking idiot! he doesn't have a clue what can of worms he's opened. it will, sooner or later, come back and bite him though, wait and see!
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- PRMan, 13 Feb 2014 @ 4:25pm
  
  Re:
  As opposed to the "non-religious" nuts? Are they any better?
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PlagueSD (profile), 13 Feb 2014 @ 4:21pm

UK passed what has become known as the "gagging bill", because it puts major restrictions on how much charities and activist groups can spend while campaigning on political issues before an election.

Does this bill also pose the same restrictions to corporations and other "entities"? or is this just another way of limiting the "little guy"?
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- Anonymous Coward, 13 Feb 2014 @ 10:15pm
  
  Re:
  This government have been plagued by online groups like 38 degrees who have been speaking out against their policies.
  
  The gagging law basically silences them and charities for the year before the election. It was sold as an anti lobbying bill but reading the text made it obvious that it was aimed at dissenters.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 14 Feb 2014 @ 1:32am
    
    Re: Re:
    I cannot believe something like this was able to pass, the uk is hopeless........un-fcking-belivable............un-fcking-believable that im only hearing of it now..........there is a SERIOUS communication problem here in the uk, nobody wants to talk to eachother about these things, until that changes, nothing will, how can you fight something you dont agree with, if you dont know anything about it........at least the americans care enough to share what they find ffs
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  - Anonymous Coward, 17 Feb 2014 @ 2:44pm
    
    Re: Re:
    but it wont work
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- That One Guy (profile), 14 Feb 2014 @ 5:58am
  
  Re:
  Going for a high spot in this week's 'Funniest Posts' are we?
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edpo, 13 Feb 2014 @ 4:34pm

Reckoning
I am somewhat surprised that some in government continue to think they have a free path to intimidate and muzzle law abiding citizens solely on the basis of the CONTENTS of their expressions.

If the government not longer wants to follow the rule of law, then they can't argue when we do the same.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Feb 2014 @ 4:47pm

"a number [..] potentially libelous tweets"

And that, children, is why we have judges. And courts.
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- Anonymous Coward, 14 Feb 2014 @ 1:25am
  
  Re:
  With peers
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Ninja (profile), 14 Feb 2014 @ 12:39am

V? Is that you, V?
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Sheogorath (profile), 14 Feb 2014 @ 4:04am

Easy to detect as parody
Personally, I would say that the parody JCP account is easy to detect as a non-governmental work on the basis that the ConDems have never been that honest about their policies!
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Feb 2014 @ 7:08am

This time
"At least Twitter changed its mind on this particular kind of gagging..."

Yeah, *after* it hit the press. This time.
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Sardondi (profile), 14 Feb 2014 @ 3:12pm

Need we remind anyone that George Orwell and Aldous Huxley were Englishmen? It was no mistake that Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm, and Huxley's Brave New World, novels about bleak dystopian societies where the totalitarian government's elite leaders ruled unilaterally and ran roughshod over the rights of the average citizens, were each set in England. Those British authors merely saw the future of their country clearly.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Feb 2014 @ 11:53am

The worst part of censorship is ******** **** the *****.
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