Since the controversial legislation was rolled out on Monday almost 4,000 complaints have been made to Police Scotland.
Humza Yousaf has received more complaints under Scotland's new hate crime bill than JK Rowling, it was claimed today.
A Police Scotland spokesperson also said: 'We have received a number of complaints in relation to a speech in the Scottish Parliament on June 10, 2020. 'I think also, in the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of misinformation and hysteria regarding this bill being introduced,' she told BBC Radio Scotland.
Yousaf's minister for victims and community Siobhian Brown, warned of 'hysteria' gripping Scots, revealing that a member of the public had made a fake complaint in her name Meanwhile, complaints levied against Mr Yousaf relate to a speech he gave in Holyrood back in 2020 during a debate to show solidarity with anti-racism following the death of George Floyd in the United States.
A 45-second clip of the lengthy four-year-old speech, that was made in June 2020, gained traction online last year. It was spurred on when X's owner, Elon Musk, replied 'what a blatant racist' to a post by a well-known right-wing media account. 'The speech did not assert that white people make up too large a proportion of Scotland's overall population.'
That would be more than four times higher than the total number of crimes - 302,076, recorded in the country over the last year, the party said. Meanwhile police confirmed no action would be taken against the Harry Potter author after she made a series of tweets about transgender people, prompting an outcry from India Willoughby who accused officers of getting 'stardust in their eyes'.
'It's like people get stardust in their eyes and they can't comprehend that the person who wrote Harry Potter can possibly be bad or vindictive when she clearly is, there is a mountain of evidence out there. She warned the police that she was ready to intervene if they pursued lower profile women for making similar comments, adding: 'If they go after any woman for simply calling a man a man, I'll repeat that woman's words and they can charge us both at once.'
Rowling pictured at the premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018. She is not facing action from Police Scotland over tweets she shared about trans women The huge number of complaints, collated by the BBC, made in a short time frame comes as Police Scotland warned its overworked officers could become overwhelmed.The SNP's Hate Crime Act introduces offences for threatening or abusive behaviour intended to stir up hatred, which in Scotland previously applied only to race, and includes a possible seven-year jail sentence.
Shadow cabinet minister Pat McFadden insisted that Labour would not extend the Scottish hate crime law to the rest of the country – despite backing its introduction north of the border. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: 'We're not going to do anything like that here in England. We should not be criminalising people for saying common-sense things about biological sex. Clearly that isn't right.
He told GMB: 'The position in Westminster is that the law is sufficient in England and Wales as it stands so we will not be copying what Scottish Parliament has done. He said the controversy had been overblown and police needed more training on its implementation. Mr Sarwar said the law would make Scotland a 'more tolerant nation'.
He told GB News: 'We want proper enforcement of the anti-hate crime laws that are there and to make sure that the right penalties are in place to protect people.' Humza Yousaf spoke out after abuse related to his Pakistani heritage was daubed on walls and fences of nearby properties in Dundee – and suggested that the vandalism helped to make the case for his new hate crime law.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: 'We received a report of offensive graffiti in Broughty Ferry at about 1.30pm on Monday. Inquiries are ongoing.' In her social media post, Rowling listed ten high-profile trans people and denied their claims to be women. Ms Rowling added: 'In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls.
'It is impossible to accurately describe or tackle the reality of violence and sexual violence committed against women and girls, or address the current assault on women's and girls' rights, unless we are allowed to call a man a man.' People hold up signs as they protest outside the Scottish Parliament on Monday as the new legislation came into effect
The Telegraph reported that 6,000 of Police Scotland's 16,000 officers haven't completed the two-hour training course. Ms Rowling has won support from across the political spectrum. Russell Findlay, the Tory MSP who discovered he had a non-crime hate incident logged next to his name, said: 'JK Rowling speaks for many women across Scotland who see Humza Yousaf's hate crime law for what it is – another SNP attack on women's rights.'
The new laws have been opposed by freedom of speech campaigners including Andrew Neil and X boss Elon Musk, who said in response to a series of tweets about the laws that it was 'an example of why it is so important to preserve freedom of speech'. With the Alba Party having launched a petition calling for the Act to be repealed, Ms Regan stated: 'As a junior minister in 2021 I voted for a Bill that promised a pathway to additional protections.
The Hate Crime and Public Order Act aims to tackle the harm caused by hatred by providing greater protection for victims and communities. The protesters also held up placards signs that read, 'truth is not hate speech', 'keep trans ideology out of our schools' and 'Scotland says no to Humza's hate crime bill.'Rowling also highlighted other trans women who had been convicted of crimes.
'It is impossible to accurately describe or tackle the reality of violence and sexual violence committed against women and girls, or address the current assault on women's and girls' rights, unless we are allowed to call a man a man. Her comments come as feminist campaigners warned that the new bill could 'havoc' and gag free speech on gender rights issues.Bryson was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of raping two women while still a manRowling sarcastically referred to Dolatowski, a transgender paedophile who assaulted children in supermarket toilets, as 'fragile flower'.
Rob Hay, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said: 'Our concern is that it could impact through a huge uplift, potentially, in reports – some of those potentially made in good faith but perhaps not meeting the threshold of the legislation, or potentially in cases where people are trying to actually actively use the legislation to score points against people who sit on the other side of a particularly controversial debate.
'If you're thinking about making a vexatious complaint, if you're thinking about making a complaint and there's no merit in that, then do know that the police will take that serious in terms of tackling vexatious complaints, and so I would urge you not to do it.' The First Minister has repeatedly said there is 'disinformation' being spread about the Bill and what it entails, claiming there is a 'triple lock' of protection for speech.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay - who along with his party has been an ardent opponent of the law - said: 'Officers would rather tackle real crimes and keep communities safe, rather than having to investigate malicious and spurious complaints. What changes are being made by Scotland's new hate crime laws? The Hate Crime and Public Order Act 2021 has come into force on April 1, 2024.
But the new Scottish law is said to set the bar lower for finding offence, as it includes 'insulting' behaviour and says prosecutors need only prove that stirring up hatred was 'likely' instead of 'intended'. Advertisement What is the Hate Crime Act? The Hate Crime and Public Order Act, passed in 2021, followed a review of hate crime legislation by Lord Bracadale.
The law also applies to communication of material – for example on social media – in addition to comments or behaviour. When considering reasonableness, there must be 'particular regard' to the importance of the right to free speech – even when it is offensive, shocking or disturbing. Ridiculing or even insulting someone's religion might be unwelcome – but it would not be criminal under the Hate Crime Act.No – it also applies to private homes, not just to comments or behaviour in public, raising the possibility that dinner party conversations could be criminalised.
The Scottish Police Federation , representing rank-and-file officers, has warned that the Fringe festival in Edinburgh could be 'busier than normal' this summer, as officers may have to question comedians who are the subject of hate crime complaints.The Association of Scottish Police Superintendents has warned that activists could seek to 'weaponise' the new legislation.
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