by Neo-Nazis and far-right protesters are taking advantage of Scotland’s new hate crime law to make harrowing complaints in a massive effort to “overrun” police systems.
A prominent figure in England’s white nationalist movement is among those who are calling on their followers to spam Police Scotland with anonymous online reports, the Observer got.
The leader of a far-right group – one of a number of fringe organizations being assessed by the UK government under its new definition of extremism – has promoted a private channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram that includes a “call to action” urging members to “mass report a do “.
Posts on the channel instruct members to log supposed “anti-white” hate incidents, which they say include a statement on the police force’s website that “young men between 18-30 are more likely to commit hate crimes”.
“We are deeply offended by this public targeting of a group and will therefore report it as a racially motivated hate crime,” the channel administrator wrote.
Messages have also been posted directing the group’s 284 members to receive mass-reported tweets from members of the public, including one from a former local councilor who said those most affected by the hate were “people people of colour, disabled people, LGBT+ people, because it is. probably happened to them”. The administrator of the “hate crime reporting” group said the message was “offensive” and “characterized white men as evil”.
“At the very least, we want to report them wasting their time [so that] they eventually leave the system altogether,” they wrote, adding that people could report anonymously and even if they did not live in Scotland.
Efforts by far-right campaigners to get the upper hand on Police Scotland come after a week of fierce criticism of the country’s new hate crime legislation. The law, which came into effect on April 1, states that a person commits a criminal offense if they express content or behave in a way that “a reasonable person would consider threatening or offensive”, with the intention of inciting hatred , established. on a list of protective characteristics.
These include age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in a person’s sexual characteristics. It also includes the crime of inciting hatred based on race, color or nationality, which was already illegal but is now part of the new act.
The Scottish government says the law gives more protection to victims while protecting free speech. But there was controversy about omitting sex from the list of protected characteristics it covers. Ministers say the reason for this is that a stand-alone bill tackling fraud is in the works.
Critics also claim the law will stifle free speech, with high-profile figures including JK Rowling, Joe Rogan and Elon Musk among those who have publicly attacked it. After the minister for Holyrood, Siobhian Brown, said that people could be “investigated” for misleading someone online, Rowling feared that she would be arrested by the police over the tweets she posted. describe transgender women as men. Police Scotland said the tweets were not criminal. Yesterday, Rowling posted a 700-word statement on X outlining her views on gender issues and her concern that women’s rights are being “taken away”.
This weekend, Scottish prime minister Humza Yousaf, the leader of the SNP, defended the legislation, telling the PA news agency that “deliberate misinformation” was being “pedddled by some bad actors” falsely claiming it was a criminal offence. was there now. “derogatory comments” based on the characteristics covered in the action.
A government spokesman also said the law had a “high threshold for criminality” and would not “prevent people from expressing controversial, challenging or offensive views”.
Yousaf also warned people not to make vexatious complaints. Although official figures have not yet been released, Police Scotland is reported to have received almost 4,000 reports in the first three days of the new law. It is understood that much has been lodged against Yousaf himself about comments he made four years ago about the lack of non-white people in top jobs in Scotland.
The First Minister said he was not surprised by the deluge and “when the legislation is first introduced there can sometimes be a flurry of distressing complaints”. But he said he was “very concerned” about the numbers being carried out, adding that “people should stop because they are wasting valuable police resources and time”.
Police Scotland said there had been a “significant increase” in reporting since the law came into force but this had not affected frontline policing. It is understood they have drafted in extra staff, paying them overtime to cope with the demand.
Related: Scotland’s new hate crime law: what does it cover and why is it controversial?
Imran Ahmed, from the Center Against Digital Hate, said it was “deeply ironic” that the law was being “weaponised” by the same racist and misogynistic “evildoers” who inspired its creation. He said the flurry of complaints from far-right activists was proof that the law “failed to hit the right target” and that the Scottish government was “attempting to prosecute speech” rather than social media platforms.
“The problem is the proliferation of hate speech on social media and the ways these platforms take advantage of, and give superpowers to, all hate groups,” he said.
Before the law came into force, the Association of Chief Police Officers of Scotland (ASPS) warned of its impact on police resources. Chief Superintendent Rob Hay, president of the ASPS, said in a letter to Holyrood’s justice committee that he was concerned the law would be “weaponised” by an “activist fringe” across the political spectrum who could divert police resources from crime more serious.
