Maya Thomas

Legal & Policy Officer @BigBrotherWatch fighting for free speech online+offline. Proud owner of 92 loose leaf teas 🫖. Utrecht born and raised 🇳🇱🌷 Views=own

[Maya Thomas @mayathomas98]

Keeping children safe does not have to cost us our fundamental rights. This is a dangerous assumption that assumes rights are transactional - they are not.
Online child safety CAN be achieved without structural rights infringements!

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

🆔"A passport is incredibly sensitive information...

Biometric face scans come with serious risks of data abuse"

@mayathomas98 gives evidence on how the #OnlineSafetyAct is FAILING to protect our privacy & freedoms in Parliament today.

[Silkie Carlo @silkiecarlo]

Defend Our Juries claims that hundreds of protesters have been given bail conditions to not attend protests in support of Palestine.

Not Palestine Action, just on the topic of Palestine..!

Can anyone affected contact me? Has anyone verified this?

[email protected]

[Defend Our Juries @DefendOurJuries]

PROTESTERS NOW RELEASED ON BAIL

The @ukhomeoffice stated yesterday that “The proscription of Palestine Action does not affect lawful protest in support of the Palestinian cause.”

But hundreds were given bail conditions today not to attend any protests in support of Palestine.

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

The Online Safety Act has made hosting community forums so laborious that they're closing shop.

Hundreds of forums have shuttered due to piling paperwork and liability risks.

Ordinary speech from ordinary people, gone.

Read our report ⤵️
https://t.co/xhSB7xZwLq

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

🤐 Instagram CENSORED a company selling pillows for using the word ‘pregnancy’

The social media platform removed adverts and forced the company to scrub the word ‘pregnancy’ from their website.

Britain’s censorship crisis is getting out of control.

Since the #OnlineSafetyAct came into effect, content ranging from forums for single dads, photos of famous paintings and now posts about women's health are being censored or placed behind ID demands.

The law has gone far beyond keeping us safe from abuse or threats of violence. Now, it even silences important health information.

A majority of MPs believe the Online Safety Act should be repealed or reformed, our poll revealed.

We need a free speech reset NOW | Read ⤵️
https://t.co/8eX1eK0T2v

[Maya Thomas @mayathomas98]

@oldspeak_books Hi, could you follow me back please? I'm a legal and policy officer at @BigBrotherWatch and I'd love to have a chat with you about this incident!

[Maya Thomas @mayathomas98]

There’s no “anonymous” way to process ID data. And once it falls into the wrong hands, it stays there.

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

🆔Social media ban = ID checkpoints online

“Any ID information that is submitted also ends up being a honey pot for hackers and fraudsters”

@mayathomas98 explains why forcing Britons to pass passport ID checks to use social media would be a privacy nightmare.

[Maya Thomas @mayathomas98]

The government wants to link every social media account to an ID.

The cybersecurity and privacy risks of this are astronomical - not to mention what it will do to the many campaigners/journalists etc. who rely on anonymity for safety.

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

🪪You might soon need your PASSPORT to use social media

We warned that a social media ban would mean digital ID by the backdoor - this policy confirms it.

Children need real protections online, not a surveillance scheme | #No2DigitalID

[Labour Digital Rights Network @LabDRN]

Our police forces are being left adrift by outdated, draconian speech laws.

@BigBrotherWatch's report reveals 62,199 Britons were arrested for communications offences over 5 years - that's 34 arrests every single day.

While officers are bogged down investigating absurd social media posts, working-class communities pay the price in lost neighbourhood policing.

It is a complete distortion of priorities when officers spend hours processing online noise while violent crime and burglaries blighting our streets goes unaddressed.

Labour must deliver a free speech reset: unburden our police and get them back to tackling genuine crime.

Read more from @mayathomas98 in @spectator ⤵️
https://t.co/E532bU0Gl7

[Maya Thomas @mayathomas98]

From posts about dirty dishes and paper cuts, to BBC footage from Gaza and Ukraine, the range of content censored by the OSA is truly staggering.

Based on new research by @BigBrotherWatch I explore how the OSA is wrecking the internet - and our democracy.

[The Spectator @spectator]

Lisa Nandy announced on Wednesday that there will be primary legislation to force tech companies to install 'nudity detection software', which means every image on every mobile device will be scanned.

This is also being used to age-gate all mobile devices, meaning adults will need to prove who they are before using a tablet or a phone.

The OSA sits in a web of poorly drafted speech laws. Over the last 5 years, 62,199 people have been arrested for 'communications offences', with rates varying wildly between forces, and last year, the police interviewed a 14-year-old for watching a TikTok video.

If neither police nor platforms can make sense of our laws, and implement them in ways that respect our rights, surely it is a sign they are not fit for purpose?

✍️ Maya Thomas

Article | https://t.co/SD0XRvcXPh

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

🚨BREAKING🚨

We've just installed giant billboards in London to stop the censorship crisis in Britain - pushing back censorial laws & speech policing.

@andyburnham launch a free speech reset now.

Join the fight to restore free speech in Britain⤵️
https://t.co/KxBZhkQBgK

[Maya Thomas @mayathomas98]

Freedom of speech is absolutely key to a healthy democracy, and it’s deeply Orwellian that the state is eroding this right for everyone.

[GB News @GBNEWS]

'These laws are not well written, they're not clear. This creates really dangerous situations for everybody.'

Maya Thomas from Big Brother Watch, discusses research which reavealed more than 62,000 people have been arrested over the last five years for 'communication offences'.

[Maya Thomas @mayathomas98]

Thanks for having me on the show!

[GB News @GBNEWS]

'Free speech is alive, but only technically.'

Legal and Policy Officer for Big Brother Watch Maya Thomas warns that vague speech laws are creating a chilling effect across the UK, with over 62,000 people arrested for communications offences in the last five years.

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

We're calling on Andy Burnham to launch a free speech reset NOW alongside @SpeechUnion, @IndexCensorship & other civil liberties groups.

Find out how YOU can take action today to defend free speech ⤵️
https://t.co/KxBZhkQBgK

[Maya Thomas @mayathomas98]

Our new report shows that the state of free speech in the UK should terrify all of us - regardless of where we find ourselves on the political spectrum.

This is so much bigger than Right vs Left, this is the people vs the state.

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

🚨BREAKING🚨

We've just exposed Britain's Free Speech Problem

🔸Over 60,000 people have been arrested for communication offences over 5 years

🔸Failed laws mean some police forces make 14 times more arrests than others

Our investigation covered on the front page of the Mail today.

"There is mounting concern among the public that speech policing is out of control in Britain, and it's long overdue that the government takes action.

@andyburnham must now launch a free speech reset and order an independent review of our laws and police training around speech, in order to fix this Orwellian mess.

Thousands of people are being arrested for controversial speech, online jokes and non-violent protest. People have even been arrested for holding blank pieces of paper, and urged to take 'online thinking skills' courses by police. Enough is enough."

- Silkie Carlo [@silkiecarlo]

Read ⤵️
https://t.co/R1D529eUVP

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

🇫🇷 NEWS: France’s top court has REJECTED a social media ban for under-15s, saying that it infringes on free speech and privacy.

This is vindicating for civil liberties campaigners worldwide - sweeping social media restrictions are not the answer to children's online safety issues.

Instead, they are a strangulation of freedom online and remodel internet access for everyone.

🇬🇧 Meanwhile in the UK, the Government is pushing for eyewatering internet controls - from ID checks for social media to curfews and spyware monitoring our phones.

We're calling on @andyburnham to drop these plans.

➡️https://t.co/eb3h90ctF5

[Maya Thomas @mayathomas98]

Hi X! As Legal&Policy Officer @BigBrotherWatch my day job is fighting for a free future. The UK govt's current attack on free speech online+offline should terrify us all. I’ll be using this account to share my thoughts & keep my finger on the pulse. My DMs are open, so do say hi!

[Tom Zachar @TomZacharPod]

Digital ID UK

From the podcast with Maya Thomas

@BigBrotherWatch

#surveillancestate #ageverification #biometrics #privacyrights #shorts

[Tom Zachar @TomZacharPod]

Labour's War on Protest

From the podcast with Maya Thomas

@BigBrotherWatch

#shorts #ukpolitics #labourparty #protestlaw #freespeech

[Tom Zachar @TomZacharPod]

Racism Built In

From the podcast with Maya Thomas

@BigBrotherWatch

#facialrecognition #techracism #surveillancetech #racialbias #shorts