This tends to happen when media is politically influenced and biased. Tell me how much "balanced reporting" you find about Joe Biden or Kamela Harris on Faux News, Newsmax etc (or for that matter, The Fat Orange Turd on MSNBC, or CNN).
Much of the media is captured by the gender-ideology cult - in Australia, the media, the Police and the judicial system are almost completely captured. Its getting that way here - and the UK is next. You aren't going to find much balanced reporting there because they aren't going to go against their editorial directives, and they certainly are not going to tell on themselves. You therefore, have to rely on whoever is willing to tell the story, but as you do so, keep in mind their bias and where their loyalty lies. VICE's loyalty lies with the left, the Flail's and the Sun's loyalty lies on the right.
But the whole issue here is with even allowing people to report what others say on Social media. A criminal investigator should not be involved unless what is posted is a direct or veiled threat of violence or death. Investigating Smith because he posted something that Jones was triggered by leading Jones to make a police complaint should not get past looking at what Smith posted. If it wasn't a threat of violence, incitement to violence or a death threat that should be the end of it.
For example, lets say Judy Jones is a transwoman and trans-rights activist. I get into an online spat with him.
I post "someone need to shoot that Judy Jones", or "I know where you live Judy Jones, so you need to watch your back", or "Jones, you'd better hope we never actually meet in person, because if we do, I'm going give you a hiding". If Jones were to make a Police complaint, then I would expect to be investigated for it.
However, if I were to post "Jones you're not a real woman" , or "Listen Jones, you're just another one of those trans-freaks with a dick between his legs trying to cosplay as a woman", then those could be vile, nasty things to say, but I should have a free speech right to say them. If Jones makes a Police complaint, the investigation should not go beyond the investigating officer looking at what I posted, and immediately closing the investigation with the conclusion that I have have not broken any laws and therefore have no case to a to answer. And yes, those words ARE protected speech in a legal sense, but in the real world, if I were living in the UK right now, I could be at least spoken to, and possibly arrested, questioned under caution and have my devices confiscated. No matter how I might ultimately be cleared of any charges, the mere threat of such actions chills (and therefore, infringes) my free speech rights. There needs to be both a procedural and an attitudinal change to the way police deal with complaints such as these... FIRST determine if the speech was protected speech, if it was, end of investigation; if it wasn't, only then should the investigation proceed. Unfortunately, these changes haven't been made.
Now, you repeatedly argue that these incidents will get less and less common over time. Sorry, that is not good enough. They are still happening, and they need to stop immediately - right now. The Commissioner of the Met needs to promulgate an order to all Police districts round the country, to not proceed with any investigation of anything posted about anyone on social media or in public fora that is a not a direct or veiled threat of violence, incitement to violence, intimidation or death.
