The Economist - UK (2022-05-07)

Gang-relatedpolicing

Drill down

“C

ensored”beginslikemostpiecesof

drillmusic,a genreofrap.Dressedin

blackpufferjacketsandbalaclavas,mem­

bersofthegroup“Zone2”,whocomefrom

PeckhaminsouthLondon,spitlinesabout

their“opps”(enemies).Butlistento the

trackonYouTube—whereithasgarnered

2.8m views—andyou will noticesome­

thingunusual.Aringingsoundobscures

certainwords,suchasthenamesofde­

ceasedgangrivals.Thisisprobablynotar­

tisticchoice.Somerappersnowsoftenor

masktheirlyricstoavoidgettingonthe

wrongsideofthelaw.

Theirparticularconcernisa unitofthe

MetropolitanPoliceServicecalled“Project

Alpha”, which patrols the internet for

“gang­relatedcontent”.Around 30 officers

spendmostoftheirtimescrutinisingdrill

songs,whichsometimesreferencerealvi­

olenceandgangdisputes(thoughmany

tracksarenotautobiographicalandsome

entirelyfictional).Theydissectslangtode­

terminewhichtracksmightinciteoffline

attacks. Alpha officers then tell social­

mediaplatforms—chiefamongthemYou­

Tube, where songs receive most atten­

tion—thatthevideobreachesthewebsite’s

own rules prohibiting harmful content.

YouTubeusuallyagreestodeletetheclips.

Morethan 350 piecesofonlinecontent,

mostly YouTube videos, have been re­

movedthisyearafterrequestsfromAlpha;

just 130 wereremovedin2019.The real

numbersareprobablyhigherstill.Indus­

try insiders saythat officerssometimes

warnYouTubechannelsthattheyplanto

flagvideostotheplatform,atwhichpoint

channel owners may remove the clips

themselves.Some,like“Zone2”,bleepout

wordsoruploadcensoredtracks.

Civil­libertiesgroupsviewAlphaasa

concerning creep towards censorship.

Rappersfeelunfairlysingledout—heavy­

metalbands havebeenscreamingabout

deathanddestructionfordecades.Many

musiciansalsodoubtthatpoliceofficers

canproperlyparsedrill’shyperlocalslang.

“People in the Met aren’t coming from

these areas [where drill is recorded].

There’sonlysomuchtrainingyoucando,”

saysTobyEgekwu(“tk”),co­founderofa

recordlabelthatsignsdrillartists.

TheMetdeniesAlphaisrestrictingfree

speech.JamesSeager,wholeadstheunit,

saysitdoesn’ttrackeverydrillsong—just

thosebypeopleinvolvedinreal,violent

disputes.Tokeepabreastofslang,Alpha

hashiredpeoplefamiliarwiththesortsof

estateswheredrillmusicisoftenmade.

ThebiggerquestioniswhetherAlphais

doinganygood.Ifrapperstauntrivalsby

belittlingvictimsorreferencingprevious

killings,thatcrossesa line,saysMrSeager.

“The intention is to incite a response,

whichisoftenviolent...Ifweremovethe

content,it preventsanescalation.”

But there islittle evidence thatdrill

songsleaddirectlytoofflineaggression.

“Inmostofthesefeuds,peopledon’tneed

a YouTubevideotohurteachother.They

weregoingtodoitanyway,”saysForrest

Stuart of Stanford University, who has

studieddrillmusicinChicago,wherethe

genreoriginated.Socialmediamayeven

reduceviolenceinsomecases,saysMrStu­

art,becausegangmemberscannowbuild

a toughreputationwithoutstabbingpeo­

pleinthestreets.

InsomecasesAlpha’sworkmightbe

counterproductive.Removingthevideos—

andpotentialincome—ofup­and­coming

drillartistscan“putthemoffdoingmusic”,

sosomefocuson“streetstuff”(crime)to

make money instead, says tk. Banning

videoscansimplymakethemmoreallur­

ing.Andwhensongs areremovedfrom

YouTube, some rappershave simply re­

uploadedthem elsewhere.“Censored”is

available,infull,onSpotify.

Nonetheless,thenumberofvideosthat

willberemovedfromtheinternetislikely

togrow.YouTubesaysit currentlyrelieson

theMettointerpretslangandidentifyreal

threatsindrill­musicvideos.ButtheOn­

lineSafetyBill,whichisgoingthroughPar­

liamentatthemoment,isdesignedtohold

techgiantsdirectlytoaccountforharmful

content. Executivesfacehefty finesand

evenjailtimeiftheycannotproperlypo­

licetheirplatforms.Social­mediamodera­

torsarealsogoingtohavetospendtime

brushingupontheir“bars”.n

TheMetunitthathelpsremovemusic

videosfromtheinternet

TheEconomistMay7th 2022 Britain 27

itsnaturalareaswithsufficientvigour.
Theproblemthattherulesseektotack­
leisreal.Britain’sairismuchcleanerthan
itwas,itsgreenhouse­gasemissions far
lower,butitsriversareaspollutedasever.
Onlya thirdareratedgoodorbetterbyen­
vironmentagencies,a proportionthathas
notchangedfora decade.Thenumberof
salmonandtroutcaughtinBritishriversin
2019 wasthelowestforatleast 25 years,al­
thoughpollutionisnottheonlyreason.
Intheory,theextrapollutioncausedby
newhousingdevelopmentcanbeoffset.
OnthesouthcoastofEngland,theHamp­
shireandIsleofWightWildlifeTrusthas
started buying farms andreturning the
landtonature.Sinceagriculturalfertiliser
andfarmanimalsalsopolluterivers,tak­
inglandoutofproductiongeneratescred­
its.Thesecanbesoldtofirmsthatwishto
buildhomesneartheSolent,astraitbe­
tweenmainlandEnglandandtheIsleof
Wight.Otherplaces,includingHereford­
shire,aretryingtocreatesimilarmarkets.
Itisa neatsolution.ButAlexRennie,
theleaderofHavantBoroughCouncil,says
thatitcouldhaveanunfortunateeffecton
thehousingmarketaroundtheSolent.A
builderwhowantstoerectnewhomeson
farmlandmayhavetobuy fewercredits
thansomebodywhoistryingtobuildon
urban wasteland, because obliterating
farmland reduces pollution, which is
counted in the developer’s favour. The
rules seem to encourage urban sprawl
morethanthe“brownfield”development
thatlocalandnationalpoliticiansfavour.
Abiggercriticismisthatthenutrient­
neutrality rules prevent only additional
pollutionfromnewdevelopment.Theydo
nottackleexistingoperations,andbarely
touchthemostimportantsource ofthe
problem.AcrossEnglandandWales,farm­
ingaccountsfor50­60%ofnitratepollu­
tion,accordingtotheEnvironmentAgen­
cy.Applyingtoomuchfertiliserisbadfor
nearbyrivers;intensivelivestockfarming

isevenworse.“Wehavehadfartoomany

chickensheds,”saysDavidHitchiner,the

leaderofHerefordshireCouncil.

IntheNetherlandsthe 2018 courtruling

ledtoa governmentcrackdownonagricul­

ture, which so irked farmers that they

drovetheirtractorstoTheHague(thegov­

ernment had also cut speed limits on

roads). Britainhas chosen to duck that

fight.InMarch,shortlyaftertheruleswere

applied to new areas, the environment

ministryannouncedthatitwouldnotban

thepracticeofspreadingmanureonfields

inautumnandwinter—somethinglikely

tocauseriverpollution—andthattheEnvi­

ronmentAgencywouldfavour“adviceand

guidance” to farmers over enforcement.

TheNationalFarmers’Union,whichhad

lobbiedagainsta stricterinterpretationof

thewaterrules,declareditselfpleased.As­

piringhomeownersshouldnotbe.n

Areaswherenew

buildingsmustbe

“nutrientneutral”

Herefordshire

Isle of Wight

Neutral zones

England and Wales

2022

Source: Government agencies