BBC Radio 5 Debate on Whether Police Officers Should be Allowed to Use Facebook: http://www.libertarian.co.uk/?q=node/682
Sean Gabb, speaking on BBC Radio 5 on the 30th December 2011.
This discussion arises from a story that 150 police officers had been disciplined for making “unacceptable” comments on Facebook. One had even been dismissed from the force for saying something unsympathetic about a non-white.
Sean Gabb makes these points:
There are over 1000 serving police officers in England with criminal records – some for violent behaviour or wounding. Yet an officer is dismissed for speaking out of turn on race and immigration. This shows the priority of modern police management.
As a rule, no one should be disciplined at work for what he says off duty and in his private capacity. This should be a moral obligation on private employers and a legal duty for public employers.
Sean has mixed feelings about this case. On the one hand, England has become a soft totalitarian police state, and it is funny to watch police officers getting a taste of the medicine they are happy to force down our throats. On the other hand, freedom of speech is so important a right that it should be defended even for the worthless wretches who tend nowadays to become police officers.
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