Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘Vexatious misuse of hate law is rife’
SCOTLAND’S new hate crime law has been targeted with vexatious complaints, Deputy First Minister Shona Robison has warned, as police reveal thousands of reports were made in its first week.
Figures released by Police Scotland show more than 7,000 reports of hate crime were made between April 1 and 7.
The new law, which came into effect at the start of the month, introduces offences for hate crimes against more characteristics – including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity.
However, it has sparked criticism from high-profile individuals including Ally McCoist and JK Rowling – with a social media post by the Harry Potter author sparking a deluge of complaints.
Speaking in Dundee yesterday, Ms Robison defended the legislation, saying the bill had been targeted by misinformation.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation about the bill and I suspect that would have been the case no matter what the Scottish Government had done,” she said.
“Social media is full of toxic debates and culture wars about one issue or another and of course there’s been an element of that playing into some of the vexatious complaints that have been made.
“I think the important thing to remember is that the hate crime legislation is really building on protections that already existed.
“We’ve had similar protections for race hate crime since 1986 and what this legislation does is provide similar protections for other people, like those with disabilities for example. It means other groups are getting similar levels of protections.”
She added: “What’s important is to challenge that misinformation and to be clear there is a high threshold for criminality and to explain that.
“Over time, some of that misinformation will be shown to be just that.”
The deputy first minister was speaking at the Craigie Community Sports Hub in Dundee, where an Easter holiday football camp, which received £95,000 from the Scottish Government’s Extra Time partnership, was being held.
Launched by the first minister with a £2 million Scottish Government investment last year, the programme provides before-school, after-school and holiday activities for around 2,700 children each week.