Clip round ear?

What kind of Scotland are we creating, when a man can get a criminal conviction for a bad taste video clip?

When the general public knows that so much serious crime goes unprosecuted, taking action over a Youtube video of a pug raising its paw in imitation of a Nazi salute can only serve to undermine confidence in the criminal justice system. For example, female genital mutilation has been illegal throughout Britain since 1985, and yet our police and courts have failed to imprison a single perpetrator.

If a questionable video-clip of a small dog can result in a criminal record, how can people feel safe to discuss difficult questions or challenge prevailing orthodoxy? Eugenics, for example, was once widely supported by major public figures on the left and the right. Today, multiculturalism is much in need of debunking, but is it safe to do so?

While social media does, of course, need policing of threats, scams and defamation, a bad taste Youtube video that you have to click to play really does not justify the use of scarce resources.we allow well-meaning public servants to destroy freedom of speech at our grave peril.

OTTO INGLIS Inveralmond Grove, Edinburgh