Not only can the Scottish police now charge you with “hate speech” on a wide variety of topics, but they can do so based on criteria that drops any and all pretense of objectivity. It seems that for Scots the best way to avoid prison would be to tape their mouths shut and abandon social media.
Asked whether “misgendering” someone or making a comment about their religion would be a crime the minister replied: “This will be up to Police Scotland. I wouldn’t say misgendering if you say something on social media for example it would be up to Police Scotland to determine.”
Rest assured, however, the police will move heaven and earth to investigate such “high level” crimes:
Just last month the national force said it was no longer able to investigate every “low level” crime, including some cases of theft and criminal damage.
It has, however, pledged to investigate every hate crime complaint it receives.