Scottish police have been inundated with incident reports after a controversial new hate speech law took effect on Monday, receiving more than 4,000 complaints within the first two days. However, while the law was intended to crack down on those who “stir up hate” against protected groups, Scotland’s left-leaning First Minister Humza Yousaf has become the primary target for activist reports, far surpassing the criticism directed at “transphobic” Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
Under the new legislation, dubbed the Hate Crime and Public Order Act, spreading “hatred” with threatening or abusive behavior based on characteristics including age, religion, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and transgender status is punishable by up to seven years in prison. Racial hatred has been banned in Scotland since 1986, and while the Act does not ban hatred against women, anti-misogyny laws are forthcoming.
As Valuetainment previously reported, JK Rowling, an outspoken feminist, challenged the law as soon as it took effect on Monday, firing off an X thread listing male sex offenders in Scotland who now identify as women.
Scotland's Hate Crime Act comes into effect today. Women gain no additional protections, of course, but well-known trans activist Beth Douglas, darling of prominent Scottish politicians, falls within a protected category. Phew! 1/11 pic.twitter.com/gCKGwdjr5m
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024
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Rowling concluded by daring Scottish police to arrest her on charges of “misgendering” as soon as she returned to the country. Ultimately, perhaps fearing international backlash, Police Scotland officials declined to bring criminal charges against her. However, the mere fact that she was reported for hate speech means that Rowling will now have an incident file that will remain in perpetuity.
But Rowling was far from the only one caught up in the wave of activist reporting. According to Calum Steele, former general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, Police Scotland received a new hate speech report every two minutes in the first 48 hours, averaging to 3,800 in just two days. More than half of these claims have yet to be processed, but every single one must be fully reviewed.
While Rowling received a number of reports, far more were directed at First Minister Humza Yousaf, the architect of the new bill. Per The Scottish Sun, “A lot of those complaints were about Humza Yousaf, on the same complaint about his parliamentary rant. J.K. Rowling has had some, but not as many as Humza Yousaf.”
In particular, citizens filing reports against Yousaf cited a 2020 speech before Scottish Parliament in which he complained that there were too many White people in the country’s government.
According to the latest census data, more than 96 percent of the Scottish population is White.
Police Scotland have not revealed whether they have filed an official report against Yousaf for the speech, creating a difficult legal conundrum for the department.
“The first minister was subjected to complaints yesterday in relation to a speech he made in parliament back in 2020, which some people claim was racist,” Parliament member Murdo Fraser of the opposition Tory Party. Fraser likewise had a case opened against him after he compared “nonbinary” individuals to people who identify as cats. “The police have investigated this, they’ve said quite rightly in my view, there was no criminality here. But in line with their policy, the police will have to record each and every one of these complaints as a non-crime hate incident, both against JK Rowling and the first minister Humza Yousaf.”
He continued:
“There’s actually a fairly significant point, because in relation to the first minister, either the police are going to treat an opposition politician in Scotland like myself differently from the way they treat the SNP first minister which would be an absolute outrage, or the police in Scotland agree to say that Scotland’s first minister is responsible for a hate incident.”
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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