Black student accuses Met and CPS of misusing laws over use of N-word

By Aamna Mohdin, The Guardian

Prosecutors dropped case against Jamila A after protracted legal battle over tweet about footballer Alexander Isak

A 22-year-old black student has accused police and prosecutors of misusing hate speech laws intended to protect minorities after she was charged for using the N-word in a tweet.

Jamila A, who lives in London, was charged under the Communications Act 2003 in July 2023 after referring to the black Newcastle United footballer Alexander Isak as a “nigga” in a tweet.

Her legal team argued the term was widely used in African American vernacular English and black British English and differed significantly from the racial slur ending in “-er”.

The tweet was flagged by a data monitoring organisation and passed to the Metropolitan police, whose referral to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) led to charges, prompting a legal battle that lasted one and a half years.

The CPS ultimately dropped the case, citing insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction.

Jamila told the Guardian she had been prosecuted for speaking in a way “that came naturally to me as a black woman”.

The Guardian has more about the woman’s experience.

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