A pregnant woman in Australia was served a search warrant
and arrested for “incitement” after she made a Facebook post encouraging a
protest during Victoria’s lockdown. Police also seized all of the family’s
electronic devices.
Comments accompanying a Twitter post on the arrest said she
was encouraging people to ditch their face masks. The 28-year-old woman was
handcuffed and told she was being taken to jail even though she said she had an
ultrasound appointment in one hour. She and her partner offered to take the
Facebook post down, but police said they were arresting her anyway.
They also issued a warning to anyone “still thinking of
attending the protest” that they would issue $1,652 fines and make arrests “if
necessary.” As noted by Gizmodo, Australia is the only wealthy democracy left
in the world that doesn’t have an equivalent to America’s First Amendment
rights.
SOURCES:
Twitter
September 2, 2020
Gizmodo
September 2, 2020