Freedom of expression is under threat in Scotland because the police are increasingly recording non-crimes as “hate incidents,” the watchdog Index on Censorship has warned.
Guidance from the College of Policing, the professional body for officers in England and Wales, suggests officers should log a non-crime hate incident if it is “perceived to be” motivated by hatred or prejudice, even if the speaker insists it was a joke or an innocent remark.
The college updated its guidance in July 2022 after judges said, in 2020, they were having a “chilling effect on public debate.”
But The Times of London reported that in 2021 Police Scotland logged 928 incidents of “malice and ill will” where no criminal offence had been committed, twice the number in 2017….