UK Government Monitored The Social Media Activity of Education Critics

If you’re tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. It has been brought to light that the UK’s Department for Education has been conducting social media surveillance on some of the nation’s foremost education specialists. The Guardian’s investigation has revealed that the DfE maintained records of social media activities for at least nine educators, with some documentation extending to 60 pages of scrutinised interactions. Disturbingly, a person who wished to remain anonymous reported finding an Excel spreadsheet prepared by the authorities, outlining her social media connections and activity minutiae. And it doesn’t end there. The DfE reportedly attempted to terminate a conference because two key speakers, Ruth Swailes and Aaron Bradbury, had previously expressed their disagreement with government policies. Bradbury, an acclaimed scholar specializing in early childhood studies, found the situation profoundly undemocratic. This case raises many questions about the state of free speech in the United Kingdom. It becomes more worrying when bureaucrats start compiling dossiers simply because educators dare to express their democratic right to criticize or challenge government decisions. Does this not amount to an implicit form of censorship, designed to stifle dissent and control dialogue? Adding to the chilling effect, a senior government officer was deployed to the said event to “monitor” Swailes and Bradbury’s speech. Swailes, understandably shaken by this experience, filed a subject access request and revealed that UK authorities indeed kept a file concerning her. In this dossier, it was shown that her criticism of Ofsted,…UK Government Monitored The Social Media Activity of Education Critics