Last week, the United Kingdom warned its citizens about what they post online, noting they could be criminally prosecuted for sharing content that can “incite” violence. Free speech advocates were quick to condemn the announcement as censorial and undemocratic.

But is America immune from the thought police?

Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii was recently put on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) terror watchlist. According to whistleblower reports, she and her husband were followed by federal agents and a team of dogs last month and checked multiple times at airports as they traveled across the United States and overseas.

Local Hawaiian lawmakers sent a statement to the TSA condemning the “harassment”:

The people of Hawaii love Tulsi and your actions have offended us for your attempt to ruin her reputation without explanation. Again, as leaders in the State of Hawaii, we remind you that this is not China or Russia and our government is not to overstep the boundaries that have been set by our US Constitution nor should ever attempt to weaponize its regulatory powers. You have embarrassed the State of Hawaii in our eyes, and we plead with you to clarify this without hesitation.

-Lawmakers incensed after former congresswoman placed on terror watch list

Gabbard has been a vocal critic of the current administration, and cites this as a reason she’s been unfairly targeted. Critics of the UK’s free speech infringement likewise noted that Britain isn’t “North Korea” or “China.” These countries are marked with authoritarianism and censorship. Are hints of the same kind of government overreach reaching western countries, too? If history teaches us anything, it’s that brutal regimes can emerge anywhere, even in the land of the free.