Who is worried about Scotland's new Hate Crime law, and why?

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TL;DR: New hate crime legislation in Scotland, due to come into force on April 1st, will make it an offence to stir up hatred on grounds of sexual orientation, transgender identity, age or disability. The majority of people and media speaking against it are, well, voices who stir up hatred.

An extension of the law in Scotland will make it a hate crime offence to "stir up hatred" towards all protected characteristics within the Equality Act.

Right-wing media and a series of anti-trans voices have lined up to express their opposition to it, leading to Scotland's first minister calling out the "disinformation" being spread about what the law will mean - Sky News

The law itself isn't setting a new precedent. It mirrors a similar offence about race hatred already on the statute book and consolidates other hate crime regulations. But this move has led to questions from those who are concerned about what it means for 'free speech.'

Proponents of the bill say it limits hate speech - not free speech.

What's in The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act?

The law was passed by MSPs in 2021 and comes into force on April 1st.

It will criminalise threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred based on certain characteristics, including age, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity - BBC

The law, however, includes a clause that would allow those taken to court under the Act to offer proof that their behaviour or communication was reasonable in the circumstances, as part of their defence. This allows for a number of exemptions on the grounds of freedom of speech, including for example around comedy and fiction.

As Adam Tomkins, The John Millar Professor of Public Law at the University of Glasgow, explained to The Herald:

"Offensive speech is not criminalised by this legislation: the only speech relating to sexual orientation, transgender identity, age or disability outlawed here is speech which (1) a reasonable person (2) would consider to be threatening or abusive and which (3) was intended to stir up hatred and (4) was not reasonable in the circumstances."

Who opposes the Scotland Hate Crime Bill?

Media like The Telegraph, Spiked and Unherd have published a series of articles claiming "Scotland is no longer a free country" following now denied claims that the law will target performers - STV

Billionaires like JK Rowling and Elon Musk have also been speaking out, with the author calling it "ludicrous" - The National

Gender-critical campaigners claimed Police Scotland's planning for new hate crime laws parodied the author in a training scenario about an influencer called 'Jo' who posted that all transgender people "belong in gas chambers" - The Telegraph

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross was also worried for the author and said police could be "swamped" and innocent people would be investigated. "People like JK Rowling could have police at their door every day for making perfectly reasonable statements," he said in Parliament. The First Minister Humza Yousaf countered that freedom of speech was protected, and the problem was hate crime itself, not the law - BBC

Analysis: There's a reason they're worried about being criminalised

The prominent anti-trans voices we hear so much from don't just have private discriminatory beliefs about transgender people. They use their large platforms to stir up hate about transgender people in order to push their hateful agenda.

If they continue, this action could well see them fall foul of this law in Scotland.?

This bill does nothing more than extend protections against racist crimes to other protected characteristics, and it's telling that the usual chorus of anti-trans voices has lined up to call it out.

For these campaigners, the same rules, morals and ethics are fine and dandy when applied to racism and often even homophobia - until they are applied to transphobia as well.

What does this mean for your work, career and business?

This may well become the current running theme here, but as a high-profile employment tribunal takes place in the UK based on a teacher's actions towards a trans student takes place - it's a prominent consideration.

Beliefs are protected in law. Being protected from discrimination is too.

Freedom of speech is a concept we all understand, as is freedom of expression. But our society is drawing lines around hate speech because it leads to a reduction of freedom of speech and expression by stirring up hate, prejudice and misinformation about, usually, marginalised communities.

We can all respectfully disagree - but there is a difference between that, and creating actions which spread hate. In the workplace, we can all take this forward as a state of mind we come back to, in even the smallest interactions.

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