Katie Hopkins is once again under fire for doing what honest commentators must sometimes do: show the public what is happening. British outlets reported she risked arrest after sharing footage taken inside the Old Bailey of Tommy Robinson, footage that authorities say may breach rules forbidding filming in court precincts. This isn’t a harmless online spat — under U.K. law, sharing such material can be treated as contempt and carries real penalties.
Make no mistake, the statutes the authorities lean on aren’t abstract; the Communications Act and related court rules give prosecutors sweeping power to declare speech “off-limits” and to punish people for distribution of content deemed problematic. Those laws have been used repeatedly to police online speech in recent years, turning what should be open public debate into a minefield for anyone who dares to challenge the orthodox line. If you value open discussion, you should be alarmed that routine videos can be weaponized under these provisions.
Katie Hopkins is not a stranger to being targeted for her content — from being detained in South Africa amid accusations of spreading racial hatred to being deported from Australia after a quarantine video stunt, her run-ins with authorities show a pattern. The state has repeatedly shown a readiness to use immigration and criminal powers against media figures whose views make the cultural elites uncomfortable, and Hopkins has become a lightning rod in that fight. This is less about isolated incidents than about an international pattern of silencing dissent.
Look at the wider context: British and European courts have increasingly set precedent where provocative jokes or controversial clips lead to fines, bans, and even criminal convictions — remember the prosecution of online comedians and creators for “grossly offensive” content. When the law is used to muzzle speech rather than protect genuine rights, the next step is normalized censorship across media platforms and state apparatus. Conservatives should recognize this as the slippery slope it is and fight to stop it before it comes fully ashore.
That is why the American response matters. Voices like Glenn Beck and others have rightly warned that what happens in the U.K. rarely stays there when Big Tech and regulatory habit migrate across the Atlantic. If platforms and governments can work together to deplatform, demonetize, and criminalize speech overseas, there is nothing stopping the same playbook being used here unless we take a stand.
Katie Hopkins has always courted controversy, and she can be abrasive, even unforgiving, in her rhetoric — but the worst response to speech we dislike is to hand the state more power to silence it. Conservatives must defend the messy, imperfect public square where ideas clash, not the sterile, state-policed internet that the woke elite prefers. If Hopkins faces arrest for a video that sparks debate, then every American who cares about free expression should be ready to speak up and push back.
