4 ms·

> Live facial recognition will scan the faces of those heading to the “Unite the Kingdom, Unite the West” rally in the borough of Camden, marking the first time

by cjs_ac 5mo ago

> Live facial recognition will scan the faces of those heading to the “Unite the Kingdom, Unite the West” rally in the borough of Camden, marking the first time the technology has been authorized for use at a protest in the UK. The rally was organized by activist Tommy Robinson who says the rally is for “national unity, free speech and Christian values.” Let's have a look at Tommy Robinson's Wikipedia article*: > Robinson has a history of criminal convictions,[5] including for crimes such as assault,[6] threats,[7] harassment,[8] and fraud,[5] as well as contempt of court rulings relating to his videos, and has served five prison terms between 2005 and 2025. In June 2022, Robinson said that he lost £100,000 in gambling before declaring bankruptcy in March 2021. He also said he owed an estimated £160,000 to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). In August 2024, The Times said that he owed in the region of £2 million to his creditors, and was the subject of a HMRC investigation over unpaid taxes. The Metropolitan Police are (justifiably) expecting this protest to turn into a violent riot, and have planned accordingly. British police forces have a long-established procedure for collecting CCTV evidence during riots, and then using that to prosecute rioters afterwards. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Robinson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Robinson

Vaslo 5mo ago
[flagged]
- multjoy 5mo ago
  [flagged]
- mrighele 5mo ago
  From the article: > a pro-Palestinian march marking “Nakba Day,” happening in London on the same day with an estimated 30,000 attendees, will not face the same biometric surveillance.
  - Vaslo 5mo ago
    Mods here are getting ridiculous- who is the mod that removed my comment for just saying literally the opposite opinion of the original commenter? Why would my comment come down but not the OPs??
pessimizer 5mo ago
Yes. It's alright to do it when I don't like the person. Should a person I don't like really have rights, or privacy? Also, I'm sure that the people who don't like him like me, right?
- JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
  > Should a person I don't like really have rights, or privacy? For a society striking a British balance between security and privacy, I'd say it's fair to require people with violent convictions to (a) register public protests they plan to attend and (b) consent to facial-recognition surveillance in public. (One could hash, locally store and potentially hardware enforce the restriction on the device level.) That doesn't mean I think it's okay for everyone around him to have to give up those rights. And I wouldn't support even that in America unless the individual is on probation.
  - pessimizer 5mo ago
    People need to be allowed to speak in public without having their identities recorded by the police. Also, if you want to follow somebody around who has "violent convictions," you don't have to release them, you can parole them ("released on license" I think I want to say?) There's a reason you choose to do this during a political protest. Also, you included a bunch of gambling and tax debts for some reason? Do you think that they are justified because he, and the people who join him, will be publicly avoiding taxes and bookies? edit: It's also important to note that in the 15th year of future Reform rule, when a "reformed" Tommy Robinson is appointed Home Secretary, he will entirely support drones doing facial recognition during protests. How else are you supposed to catch the anti-Semites?
    - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
      > People need to be allowed to speak in public without having their identities recorded by the police Sure. But this isn't an absolute right. To be trivial, you don't have the right to do fraud in public without being recorded by the police. I'm saying for a convicted violent criminal, particularly one with a history of inciting violence, I think there is a place where a reasonable line could exist. > you included a bunch of gambling and tax debts Where did I do this?
elzbardico 5mo ago
This is absolutely irrelevant. I don't fucking care whatever the police thinks a protest, any protest should turn into, because I don't want the police to have this power, because it will be abused.
- aliasxneo 5mo ago
  Unfortunately the outcome of massive division. People are gullible enough to go along with it while it's not being used against "their people" until it ends up being too late.
krona 5mo ago
> The Metropolitan Police are (justifiably) expecting this protest to turn into a violent riot Robinson has organised 4 London rallies in recent years and this is the second Unite The Kingdom rally. So what makes you think this will be the one which turns violent? It's basically families listening to speakers on a stage.
- bcraven 5mo ago
  "Dozens of officers injured as up to 150,000 join Tommy Robinson rally" Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said officers had "policed without fear or favour", knowing it would be challenging. "There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence." Assistant Commissioner Twist said officers had suffered broken teeth, concussion, a prolapsed disc, a head injury and a possible broken nose. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwydezxl0xlo https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwydezxl0xlo
- deletedie 5mo ago
  Each and every one of those rallies has been uniquely, relative to other rallies, violent https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/13/unite-the-kingdom-far-right-rally-london-tommy-robinson-police-assaulted https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/13/unite-the-ki... https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/23/police-clash-with-st-georges-day-protesters-at-rally-in-central-london https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/23/police-clash...
  - krona 5mo ago
    > About 5,000 counter-protesters from trade unions and anti-fascist groups marched in a separate route in central London. There's your answer.
selfhoster1312 5mo ago
As the old saying goes, a good nazi is a dead nazi. However, does that justify amplifying police and surveillance powers? Do you truly believe CCTV and armed cops will be used to protect the population, despite most of the State apparatus being fascistoid?

by cjs_ac 5mo ago

Vaslo 5mo ago

[flagged]

multjoy 5mo ago
[flagged]
mrighele 5mo ago
From the article: > a pro-Palestinian march marking “Nakba Day,” happening in London on the same day with an estimated 30,000 attendees, will not face the same biometric surveillance.
- Vaslo 5mo ago
  Mods here are getting ridiculous- who is the mod that removed my comment for just saying literally the opposite opinion of the original commenter? Why would my comment come down but not the OPs??

pessimizer 5mo ago

Yes. It's alright to do it when I don't like the person. Should a person I don't like really have rights, or privacy? Also, I'm sure that the people who don't like him like me, right?

JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
> Should a person I don't like really have rights, or privacy? For a society striking a British balance between security and privacy, I'd say it's fair to require people with violent convictions to (a) register public protests they plan to attend and (b) consent to facial-recognition surveillance in public. (One could hash, locally store and potentially hardware enforce the restriction on the device level.) That doesn't mean I think it's okay for everyone around him to have to give up those rights. And I wouldn't support even that in America unless the individual is on probation.
- pessimizer 5mo ago
  People need to be allowed to speak in public without having their identities recorded by the police. Also, if you want to follow somebody around who has "violent convictions," you don't have to release them, you can parole them ("released on license" I think I want to say?) There's a reason you choose to do this during a political protest. Also, you included a bunch of gambling and tax debts for some reason? Do you think that they are justified because he, and the people who join him, will be publicly avoiding taxes and bookies? edit: It's also important to note that in the 15th year of future Reform rule, when a "reformed" Tommy Robinson is appointed Home Secretary, he will entirely support drones doing facial recognition during protests. How else are you supposed to catch the anti-Semites?
  - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
    > People need to be allowed to speak in public without having their identities recorded by the police Sure. But this isn't an absolute right. To be trivial, you don't have the right to do fraud in public without being recorded by the police. I'm saying for a convicted violent criminal, particularly one with a history of inciting violence, I think there is a place where a reasonable line could exist. > you included a bunch of gambling and tax debts Where did I do this?

elzbardico 5mo ago

This is absolutely irrelevant. I don't fucking care whatever the police thinks a protest, any protest should turn into, because I don't want the police to have this power, because it will be abused.

aliasxneo 5mo ago
Unfortunately the outcome of massive division. People are gullible enough to go along with it while it's not being used against "their people" until it ends up being too late.

krona 5mo ago

> The Metropolitan Police are (justifiably) expecting this protest to turn into a violent riot Robinson has organised 4 London rallies in recent years and this is the second Unite The Kingdom rally. So what makes you think this will be the one which turns violent? It's basically families listening to speakers on a stage.

bcraven 5mo ago
"Dozens of officers injured as up to 150,000 join Tommy Robinson rally" Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said officers had "policed without fear or favour", knowing it would be challenging. "There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence." Assistant Commissioner Twist said officers had suffered broken teeth, concussion, a prolapsed disc, a head injury and a possible broken nose. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwydezxl0xlo https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwydezxl0xlo
deletedie 5mo ago
Each and every one of those rallies has been uniquely, relative to other rallies, violent https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/13/unite-the-kingdom-far-right-rally-london-tommy-robinson-police-assaulted https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/13/unite-the-ki... https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/23/police-clash-with-st-georges-day-protesters-at-rally-in-central-london https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/23/police-clash...
- krona 5mo ago
  > About 5,000 counter-protesters from trade unions and anti-fascist groups marched in a separate route in central London. There's your answer.

selfhoster1312 5mo ago

As the old saying goes, a good nazi is a dead nazi. However, does that justify amplifying police and surveillance powers? Do you truly believe CCTV and armed cops will be used to protect the population, despite most of the State apparatus being fascistoid?