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Saturday , September 5 2026

Thousands of hate crime reports in first week of new Scottish law

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the number of recorded hate crimes “demonstrates that this legislation is required and needed to protect marginalised and vulnerable communities most at risk of racial hatred and prejudice”.

The Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 came into force on 1 April.

This creates a new crime of stirring up hatred relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex.

Critics claimed the legislation could harm free speech and senior police officers warned it could spark a flood of complaints about online posts.

But the Scottish government insisted that the law provided protection from hate and prejudice without stifling individual expression.


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