Joe Rogan warns of UK's digital ID implementation: ‘An Orwell nightmare’

Joe Rogan weighed in this week on the implementation of digital ID in United Kingdom. In two separate episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the podcaster expressed his concern over the decision by the Labour government Prime Minister Keir Starmer under the pretext of fighting illegal immigration.

Rogan considered the implementation of digital ID an obvious threat to civil liberties and freedom of speech in the United Kingdom and called its implementation "an Orwell nightmare."

On Tuesday, during an interview with country rock band The Red Clay Strays, the podcaster openly criticized the Starmer government's decision to implement a digital ID card to allegedly combat illegal immigration, claiming the U.K. has let in thousands of undocumented people on purpose knowing full well what it was doing.

"In the U.K., you need a digital ID to combat—get ready for it—illegal immigration. Well, motherf*****, you let the illegal immigrants in on purpose. You guys knew what you were doing, and now you're using it as justification for digital ID," Rogan said.

The podcaster alleged that this type of tool is "the best way to control people and keep them at each other’s throats."

On Wednesday, during an interview with scientist and author Gregg Braden, Rogan again brought up the issue, criticizing the fact that there have been thousands of arrests of people who have posted online content deemed problematic by Labour.

"These people are not calling for violence. They are being arrested for wild things. People are being arrested for liking posts. Some people were investigated for viewing posts. Twelve-thousand people arrested police in the U.K., the same place that just implemented digital ID."

Likewise, Rogan expressed outrage against the silence of the mainstream media over the arrest of citizens simply expressing their opinions on social media.

"The fact that our mainstream media is relatively silent on this is insane. You are seeing a complete, total attack on one of the most fundamental principles of the Western world, which is your ability to express yourself and your ability to call out that you think the policies that are being implemented in your country are destructive."

Rogan alleged that what is being seen in the U.K. is simply the imposition of control measures that look like something out of “1984” by George Orwell, in which personal freedoms are trampled by a state that monitors and manipulates citizens’ thinking, with the excuse of establishing a well-being society.

"I mean, this is an Orwell nightmare coming to life right in front of our face. And no one’s flinching, No one in America is freaking out about what's happening in the U.K. at all. I mean, you get people online that are kind of freaked out by it, but they’re way more freaked out by nonsensical things, like whether or not what Jimmy Kimmel said in his monologue was offensive," Rogan asserted.

UK's distorted policies

There have been controversial cases in the U.K. in which people who publicly condemn grooming gangs—especially on social media—face police investigations or arrests, often under laws relating to hate speech, public order or online harassment. These cases have sparked intense debate about freedom of speech.

One of them was British activist Tommy Robinson, known for exposing grooming gangs in cities such as Rotherham and Telford.

So-called grooming gangs have been responsible for years of sexual abuse against underage girls in the United Kingdom, mainly white girls from working class backgrounds. These criminal groups are mostly made up of men of Pakistani origin and asylum seekers who have managed to operate with impunity under the complacent gaze of the authorities.

During these last few years, the scant institutional response to these atrocities is due, among other things, to the moral panic that has paralyzed a government that considers itself “progressive.” Labour's fear of being accused of racism has resulted in multiple complaints of sexual abuse against minors being ignored.

In January, Keir Starmer attempted to politicize the situation, asserting that there was no need for a national inquiry into the systematic rape and abuse of girls, as those concerned about this are jumping on the “far-right bandwagon.”