You're right about the figures, that's my mistake, thanks for teaching me.

I'm not convinced by the rest of your argument. For example:

> there are other more applicable laws to choose from such as the Public Order Act, the Crime and Disorder Act, and the Domestic Abuse Act which largely covers hate crimes and domestic abuse

Isn't it possible that people get arrested on multiple charges - both for malicious communications and for harrassment, say?

> In the greater context of the conversation, it should be obvious that police are arresting people for social media posts

Yes, but what's not obvious (or even likely) is that 12000 people are being arrested for "online comments" [0], or that the UK leads the world in such arrests. Sentences have been handed out for various other activities, such as sending photographs or abusive private emails. That's the bit that makes it a right-wing narrative: taking a statistic and giving it a misleading interpretation that happens to support your cause. Has Tommy Robinson said anything in defense/support of Joey Barton? I'm guessing not, because the victims were neither Muslim nor immigrants.

[0] https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tommy-robinson-uk-speech-cla...