Again, hyperbole. It's not 'thought crime'. He chose to publicly post his 'joke'. And do you believe there should never be any consequences for what public figures say in public fora? Where do you draw the line?
I suggest you go and have a look at how Communist States treat thought crime and you will see exactly that this is the same.
Quite often when I read stuff like this on Mumsnet when people are trying to get someone sacked for tweeting or they’re complaining that they have relatives who won’t subscribe to the compulsory liberal lefty mindset I’m reminded of Pavlik Morozov who was celebrated as a hero by the Soviets because he informed on his own father and sent him to a Gulag.
I’m sure a lot of Mumsnetters would heartily approve of children informing on their parents for holding proscribed views that would see them hounded out of their jobs.
Except in private even Stalin said he was a nasty little swine for informing on his father, but the image served a purpose because it encouraged the useful idiots who would also behave like swine informing on those around them and enjoying the sense of control and power it gave them.
Ditto those people who informed on neighbours and colleagues to McCarthy.
And going right back to the Salem witch trials and the hysterical mob justice there.
It’s not hyperbole, these sort of moralistic, mob driven socially controlling movements have existed throughout history. Twitter mobs are just the most modern version of them, searching online for transgressions to police and sinners to denounce.
It’s driven by rather unpleasant aspects of the human psyche which enjoy persecution.
And yes it is usually done by people who are a bit thick, easily led and enjoy the feeling of superiority, power and authority it gives them.
They’re convinced that they are right and deserve the power to censure. But every single other nasty oppressive movement in history that has been enforced by people behaving in the same way has believed the same.