The Silencing of the Watchmen

A Prophetic Wake-Up Call to the Church

silencing Recent reports in multiple daily newspapers and other sources have revealed how a secretive government unit is working with tech companies to suppress online dissent regarding immigration and asylum hotel policies. This isn’t just about politics; it’s about discernment, identity and truth in an age of engineered silence.

What’s Really Happening?

Whitehall 'Spy' Unit Flagging Social Media

Government officials have revived a secretive National Security and Online Information Team (NSOIT), originally active during the Covid pandemic, to monitor and flag online criticism of migrant hotels, immigration and ‘two‑tier policing.’ Emails from August 2024 show that Whitehall civil servants reached out to platforms like TikTok, warning that certain posts, including those highlighting disparities in policing or asylum accommodation, were fuelling tensions and could incite unrest. Notably, these messages reportedly asked for assessments rather than content removal.

New National Police Unit
Separately, a new police unit under the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) is being established to monitor online activity, especially posts critical of migrants, as part of an effort to anticipate and prevent violence or disorder. Officials emphasise this isn’t about suppressing free speech, but about improving real‑time intelligence and public safety.

Rising Anti-Migrant Protests
Across the UK, protest activity continues around asylum hotels, particularly in Epping (Essex), Norwich, Leeds and Bournemouth, as well as the planned Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf. In several cases, ‘far‑right’ groups have organised demonstrations, even prompting dispersal orders from police.

Protesters are increasingly vocal and organised, particularly around asylum seeker hotels, drawing a political backlash and community unrest.

Public Sentiment & Political Response
Polling shows that 62% of Labour voters believe immigration significantly affects community cohesion. Public responses are divided, with around 41% expressing sympathy for protests and 45% opposed to them. Only 25% of Labour voters support anti‑migrant demonstrations. Ministers, including Deputy PM Angela Rayner and Treasury Minister James Murray, have acknowledged the public’s frustrations while defending the right to protest and reaffirming commitments to close asylum hotels over the parliamentary term

Key points summarised

The ‘spy unit’ is part of Whitehall’s NSOIT flagging content to Big Tech, not necessarily ordering takedowns, but signalling posts viewed as incendiary during the Southport riots in July 2024.
The new police intelligence cell under NPoCC aims to monitor online trends as part of public safety, not to ban legal speech.
Protesters are increasingly vocal and organised, particularly around asylum seeker hotels, drawing a political backlash and community unrest.
Political leaders aim to reduce asylum hotel reliance and improve transparency, while critics warn of overreach and surveillance risks.

Prophetic Implications

The Rise of State-Powered Babel
The state’s effort to suppress dissent regarding immigration and migrant hotel policies echoes the ancient impulse of Babel: "Let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered…” (Gen 11:4). What was Babel but a centralising of power, language and identity; imposed from the top down?

The prophetic thread here is control through speech, or more precisely, control by narrowing the boundaries of acceptable speech. When governments work in unison with tech giants to silence uncomfortable narratives, we are witnessing a modern Tower of Babel; an artificial unity forged through coercion rather than covenant.

When governments work in unison with tech giants to silence uncomfortable narratives, we are witnessing a modern Tower of Babel

God disrupted Babel. Why? Because unity without truth is tyranny. This is the prophetic warning.

The Spirit of Antichrist: Replacing the Logos
John warns of a spirit already in the world, the spirit of antichrist (1 John 4:3), that seeks to replace or obscure the Logos (Word, Truth, Reason). Spiritual forces operate through institutions and narratives, not just individuals. When the state redefines truth or criminalises dissent, it is not neutral; it is participating in a deeper rebellion.

The prophetic implication is this: when speech itself becomes criminalised, it is often because a greater Truth is being resisted. The suppression of public biblical morality is not just political, it is eschatological.

Two-Tier Policing and Inverted Justice
Isaiah 5:20 warns: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil…” When protesters against migrant hotels are censored, but other forms of social unrest are tolerated or even encouraged, we are witnessing the inversion of justice.

This is part of what Douglas Murray called “civilisational self-loathing.” The government’s preference for ideological conformity over freedom of conscience suggests not just political bias, but a forfeiture of moral clarity. This is prophetic in the sense that it mimics the pre-exilic state of Israel, where rulers rejected truth, prophets were silenced, and judgment loomed.

... where governments and police are willing to condone and commit moral compromise, they are failing to uphold God’s standards of righteousness and are helping lead the nation into judgement.

The prophetic implication is this: where governments and police are willing to condone and commit moral compromise, they are failing to uphold God’s standards of righteousness and are helping lead the nation into judgement.

The Digital Mark of Allegiance?
Though we have a responsibility to be careful so as not to sensationalise, there is a growing technocratic apparatus that resembles Revelation’s vision of global control. Revelation 13 speaks of a system in which “no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark…” This, I believe, is not only about commerce, it is about allegiance.

Could state-corporate censorship of beliefs, values, or speech be a precursor to such a system? Perhaps not in its fullness, but it reveals a trajectory: a world where speaking biblical truth may cost you digitally, socially or financially.

The prophetic implication of rejecting or penalising biblical truth, especially when it pertains to righteousness, sin and the Lordship of Jesus, is a hallmark of the spirit of antichrist. In a world of competing spiritual loyalties, and as loyalty to the God of Israel wanes, hostility toward His truth intensifies.

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions…” (2 Tim 4:3)

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.” (1 John 2:18)

When truth-tellers are silenced or penalised, it marks a deepening of spiritual rebellion and societal apostasy.

This trend also aligns with Paul’s warning that in the latter days, people will abandon sound doctrine, choosing comfort and cultural approval over biblical fidelity. When truth-tellers are silenced or penalised, it marks a deepening of spiritual rebellion and societal apostasy.

The Exile Paradigm: Daniel, Not Dominion
I would suggest that the Church must recover our exilic identity; we are in Babylon, not Jerusalem. We are not called to dominate, but to discern and display God’s wisdom in a hostile world.

Daniel thrived in Babylon, not by compromising truth, but by being filled with the Spirit and wisdom (Dan 1:17-20). Likewise, the prophetic role of the Church now is not to seek comfort, but to stand in clarity, to name evil, to intercede for mercy, and to model righteousness.

The Broader Context

The War on the West and Its Soul
Douglas Murray warned that the West is dismantling its own foundations. In The War on the West, he writes of a civilisation ashamed of itself; one that demonises its Judeo-Christian heritage while elevating ideologies that weaken national cohesion and moral clarity.

We are watching, in real time, the managed erosion of what remains of cultural Christian conscience. Isaiah declared: "Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter" (Isa 59:14). Murray's insights mirror this: we’re entering a time when "truth" itself is recoded as "hate."

We are watching, in real time, the managed erosion of what remains of cultural Christian conscience.

The Strange Death of Europe - Not Just Demographic, But Spiritual

In The Strange Death of Europe, Murray shows how Europe's refusal to assert its values has left it vulnerable, not only to cultural shifts, but to civilisational forgetfulness. Dr Dwight Pryor once said, “A people who forget their story lose their way.” We are witnessing the disintegration of memory, the deliberate suppression of Christian moral vision for the sake of cultural neutrality.

But neutrality is a myth. The prophet Elijah didn’t ask Israel to stay neutral between Baal and YHWH, he asked them to choose. “How long will you waver between two opinions?” (1 Kings 18:21)

Unseen Forces at Work
Earthly powers are rarely, if ever, isolated from spiritual ones. As in Psalm 82, when God addresses the “elohim” (spiritual rulers), we are reminded that injustice has cosmic dimensions. The spiritual realm is not indifferent to censorship, deception, or false peace. Paul echoes this in Ephesians 6: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against rulers… spiritual forces of evil.”

What if the war on speech is a symptom of a deeper war on Word?

Summarising Thought

We are entering a time when the Church must become countercultural by necessity. What the world calls hate may often be holiness in disguise. What it celebrates as progress may be rebellion masked by compassion. As Amos said: “The lion has roared, who will not fear? The Lord YHWH has spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8). We must not merely react, we must prophetically respond. Not in panic, but in purpose. Not with fear, but with fire.

What the world calls hate may often be holiness in disguise. What it celebrates as progress may be rebellion masked by compassion.

Life Application: Becoming a Prophetic People

Refuse to Participate in the Lie: Like the prophets of old, believers must speak what God says, even if it costs them influence or platform. "Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (Gal. 4:16)
Prepare for Exile, Not Empire: Stop expecting the culture to cater to Christian values. Embrace the Daniel model, faithful presence in a hostile world.
Strengthen the Inner Life: If speech is under siege, your inner life must become deeper than ever. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly (Col. 3:16).
Build Underground, Not Just Online: As the public square becomes hostile, believers must cultivate real, embodied communities of mutual support and spiritual formation. The early Church thrived in hostile Rome because of this.
Be Discerning in the Age of Deception: We need to test what we hear, even from authorities. "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…” (1 Jn 4:1)
Guard and Speak the Truth Boldly: Silence, when truth is needed, is complicity. "Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet…” (Isa 58:1)
Pray for Leaders, but Do Not Idolise Them: Earthly governments are not neutral, they often reflect the spiritual dominion they yield to. "The kings of the earth take their stand...against the Lord and His Anointed." (Ps 2)
Live as Citizens of a Greater Kingdom: We are exiles in Babylon, not called to escape, but to bear witness. "But our citizenship is in heaven…” (Phil 3:20)

Final Prophetic Word

When governments suppress speech under the banner of “safety,” and when the Church remains silent out of fear of offending, then the Bride of Christ is no longer salt or light; it is a shadow of a once-radical faith.

The prophetic mantle is not for those seeking comfort, but for those who will stand like Jeremiah - weeping, warning, and watching. Let the Church arise, not in reactionary rage, but in truth-anchored, Spirit-empowered clarity.

The days are evil but the light has not gone out.

Nick Thompson, 07/08/2025