UK creates social‑media protest police

The Home Office is assembling a National Internet Intelligence Investigations team (NIII) based at the National Police Coordination Centre to monitor social media for early signs of protests and civil disorder. The unit will second detectives from forces nationwide and is explicitly tasked with 'maximising social media intelligence' after a parliamentary report warned police were struggling to keep up with online threats. — This signals a qualitative shift: policing is institutionalizing online monitoring of dissent, raising chilling effects on speech, enforcement discretion, and the governance of protest.