UK police commissioner threatens to go after American citizens for social media posts.

UK Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley.

For several weeks there have been riots in the streets of London stemming from a violent act committed, it is alleged by an 18-year old male of Rwandan descent. It is reported that the young man, an asylum seeker now turned British citizen, was involved in a mass stabbing which occurred at a Taylor Swift-themed event, that left three young women dead and others seriously injured.

The claim the young man was involved in the violent incident is said to be a rumour that stemmed from social media posts. Rumour or not, it is believed this sparked the explosion of riots across London and other parts of the United Kingdom that have become a hot topic across social media platforms, as the topic of immigration has taken the centre stage of concern for the British public. As the riots continue to spread and get more violent several British citizens decided to share video clips of the incidents online. Eventually, online users in the United States picked up on what was going on in Britain and they too shared the footage, as well as commented on them.

Even Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter) weighed in on the riots. Responding to a video of someone allegedly being arrested for offensive online comments Musk asked, "Is this Britain or the Soviet Union?"

In response, the London police are now cracking down on any social media posts from its citizens: memes, video or comments about the London riots. The police chief has however said the unthinkable. The UK police are threatening to arrest anyone, not just British citizens, but anyone who shares content about the riots online.

"We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you," Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told Sky News.

In fact, the Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales, Stephen Parkinson, made it clear that already, the Police have assigned officers whose dedicated task it is to check for offensive posts about the riots online and track those persons down.

"We do have dedicated police officers who are scouring social media to look for this material, and then follow up with arrests," he told Sky News, and warned that sharing online posts about the riots could be an offence. Watch what he says via the video below.

Footage of the violent clashes involving anti-immigration protesters and the groups of counter-protesters, some of whom have been seen waving Palestinian flags, have gone viral on social media, and the government is warning that sharing such content may have serious consequences.

This statement in itself was disturbing, but what furthered angered critics on social media was the British commissioner's threat that the UK government would be willing to seek the extradition of American citizens from the U.S. to be jailed in the U.K. for violating their rules about political speech online.

It doesn't seem like the fact that the United States is a different country and jurisdiction matters to the UK government.

A Sky News reporter asked Commissioner Rowley to further explain his warning, arguing that high profile figures have been "whipping up the hatred," and that "the likes of Elon Musk" have been getting involved. She then asked what the police force’s plan will be "when it comes to dealing with people who are whipping up this kind of behavior from behind the keyboard who may be in a different country?"

Rowley answered by telling the reporter, "Being a keyboard warrior does not make you safe from the law."

"You can be guilty of offenses of incitement, of stirring up racial hatred, there are numerous terrorist offenses regarding the publishing of material," he said. "All of those offenses are in play if people are provoking hatred and violence on the streets, and we will come after those individuals just as we will physically confront on the streets the thugs and the mobs who are taking — who are causing the problems for communities."

Elon Musk has however made headlines for criticizing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's response to the riots over the past week, suggesting the U.K. is headed toward "civil war."

Starmer’s spokesperson clapped back saying there was "no justification" for Musk’s comments, adding that social media companies "can and should be doing" more to combat misinformation, the BBC reported. He added that such companies "have a responsibility" to stop the spread of criminal activity and limit misinformation.