More than 62,000 people in the UK have been arrested over five years for so-called "communication offenses." A new comprehensive report by Big Brother Watch highlights the significant extent of police interventions related to electronic communication and opens a debate about where the protection from threats and harassment ends and where excessive restrictions on freedom of expression begin.
According to the study, "Britain's Free Speech Problem," published on September 7, 2026, by Big Brother Watch, UK police arrested at least 62,199 people between the beginning of 2021 and the end of 2025 for communication-related offenses. The organization obtained this data primarily through Freedom of Information Act requests.
The report also states that there were 18,520 charges and 12,292 convictions. However, the authors point out that these figures cannot be directly compared as individual stages of the same cases because they come from different statistical sources, and conviction data only applies to England and Wales.
On average, this amounts to approximately 34 arrests per day. The actual number may be even higher. Some police forces did not provide complete data, and Big Brother Watch estimates that the total number of arrests could reach approximately 73,000 when missing data is factored in.
The report also highlights the remarkably different approaches taken by individual police forces. For example, while Cumbria had 25.7 arrests per 10,000 residents, neighboring Northumberland had only 1.9. In Staffordshire, the figure was as low as 0.6.
According to Big Brother Watch, this means that in practice, it can make a significant difference where a person lives and which police force handles their case.
However, the number 62,199 must be interpreted carefully. It does not mean that more than 62,000 Britons were arrested simply for expressing opinions on Facebook, X, or other social networks.
The statistics include a broader category of communication offenses under several UK laws. In addition to potentially offensive or "grossly indecent" messages, this can also include threats, intentionally false statements, or other forms of electronic communication that cause harm.
However, critics argue that the broad wording of some provisions is problematic. Big Brother Watch claims that the British system has created an environment in which police officers may intervene against speech that should be protected in a democratic society.