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Social Media: Arrests and Convictions

Asked by Rupert LoweRestore BritainMinistry of JusticeTabled Answered 10 September 2025UIN 74476

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been (a) arrested, (b) charged and (c) convicted for social media posts in each of the last five years.

Answered by Sarah Sackman

The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on arrests or charging decisions. This is a matter for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for a wide range of offences in England and Wales within the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

However, data centrally held does not specify whether an offence relates to social media posts.

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