9 hours ago
Fact Check: Context missed from comparison touted as evidence of UK's two-tier religious freedom
A side-by-side comparison of two videos - one showing police taking a street preacher's microphone and another of a man reciting the Islamic call to prayer from a London landmark – misses context in online posts that claim it is evidence of a two-tier system of religious freedom in Britain.
'British police take away Christian preacher's microphone because his prayers were causing anxiety to some,' said a June 9 post, opens new tab on Facebook sharing screenshots of the two videos.
'Muslims can do what they want, they don't seem to cause anxiety,' the post added, referring to the call to prayer. 'UK is lost.'
A similar post on X, opens new tab received 1 million views.
However, a spokesperson for Sussex Police said in an email the preacher had his microphone briefly removed so a police officer could talk to him.
The microphone was later returned to him, the spokesperson added, as evidenced by a fuller version, opens new tab of the video, at timecode 02:59., opens new tab
In a statement, Sussex Police said officers were called to London Road, Brighton, on March 10, amid reports of hate speech being broadcast. Officers spoke to a man performing a speech, but no offences were identified. Police left the scene without taking any action and the man was not arrested.
The European Convention on Human Rights, opens new tab guarantees freedoms of religion (article 9) and expression (article 10) in the UK, meaning street preaching is lawful.
However, if the speech is threatening or abusive or causes hatred, it may constitute an offence under the Public Order Act 1986, opens new tab. Nevertheless, the law does not make a distinction between religions, James Holt, an associate professor of religious education at the University of Chester, said in an interview with Reuters.
The second video - the subject of a separate Reuters fact-check article in 2021 - shows British-Bangladeshi entrepreneur Kazi Rahman reciting the call to prayer from Tower Bridge.
A spokesperson for Tower Bridge said in an email that organisers of the recital - which happened on May 7, 2021, to mark the last Friday of Ramadan - had sought permission from the City of London Corporation in April 2021.
The City of London Corporation declined to comment. The preacher in Brighton did not respond to a request for comment.
Missing context. Police temporarily removed the Brighton preacher's microphone, and a longer version of the video shows it was returned. Permission for the Tower Bridge Islamic call to prayer was sought and granted at least a week before the recital.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
