An elite team of police officers has been tasked to monitor social media for anti-migrant sentiment amid fears of summer riots.
Detectives from across the UK are taking part in a new investigations unit as the small boats crisis escalates.
The division, overseen by the Home Office, will aim to “maximise social media intelligence” gathering after chief constables were criticised over their response to last year’s disorder.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner warned Cabinet last week that the Government must step in to address “the real concerns” people have about immigration.
But PM Sir Keir Starmer was accused of an “obsession with censorship” by critics of the National Internet Intelligence Investigations team.
Independent MP Rupert Lowe said: “Another day in Starmer’s dystopian two-tier Britain.”
He has written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper about the “dangerous development”, asking: “Why is funding being prioritised for online speech surveillance instead of increasing frontline policing or addressing the causes of the migrant hotel protests?”
Madeleine Stone, of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, claimed it was “another example of this Government’s obsession with censorship and eerily reminiscent of the Covid-era counter-disinformation units, which faced huge backlash.”
On Sunday, two women and a man were arrested at a protest and counter-protest outside an Essex hotel being used to house migrants.
It was the latest in a series of demonstrations at The Bell in Epping after asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, denied attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
Protesters waved union flags, while Stand Up To Racism activists marched to the hotel with signs reading: “Stop scapegoating refugees and migrants”.
There have also been protests outside the four-star Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf, and in Wolverhampton, Cheshire and Bowthorpe near Norwich.
A Home Office spokesman said: “This new team will help police forces track real-time information and protect communities from incidents and emergencies before they escalate.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council added: “Forces will continue to facilitate the right to peaceful protest,” adding that they were “closely monitoring the latest intelligence to ensure we are best placed to respond swiftly to reports of serious disorder.
“We have mechanisms in place, enhanced following last summer, to enable us to mobilise resources at a regional and national level if required.”
But shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the Sunday Telegraph: “Two-tier Keir can’t police the streets, so he’s trying to police opinions instead.
“They’re setting up a central team to monitor what you post, what you share, what you think, because deep down they know the public don’t buy what they’re selling.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “This is the beginning of the state controlling free speech. It is sinister, dangerous and must be fought. Reform UK will do just that.”
