Police Scotland to send 120 officers to Belfast after disorder

Meanwhile, Mr Swinney said Police Scotland had specifically raised concerns with him about the time taken to remove problematic posts from social media.

He said some of the posts may have met the threshold for charges under Scotland’s hate crime laws that came into effect in April this year.

The first minister praised the force for acting quickly to correct misinformation that three people in Stirling had been stabbed by an Asian man on Saturday.

That claim was perpetuated on social media by English Defence League founder Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.

Police later confirmed one 21-year-old woman had been taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and a 29-year-old white man from the area, Callum Fisher, appeared in court on Monday charged with attempted murder

Mr Swinney urged social media companies to outline the action they were taking to resist the spread of misinformation and to address racist and hateful speech across the platforms.

In his letter, he wrote: “It is clear to me that social media platforms have a duty to take action to ensure that individuals in our society are not subjected to hate and threatening behaviour, and that communities are protected from violent disorder.”