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Scotland’s controversial new <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/personal-freedoms/first-amendment" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hate speech law</a> went into effect Monday despite fierce backlash from critics."Scotland continues to infringe upon the right of her citizens to speak freely. This bill will force police to investigate those who ‘misgender’ someone online," Thomas Corbett-Dillon, a former adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, told Fox News Digital. "In a country riddled by knife crime, and with one of the lowest life expectancies in Europe, you would think the Scottish Government has more important things to focus on, but no, they are desperate to pander to an extremely small group of men in dresses who feel offended when they are not referred to as women."The comments come <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/world-regions/united-kingdom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as Scotland</a> officially announced that its hate crime law aimed at providing "greater protection for victims and communities" came into force Monday, creating new criminal offenses for those who use "threatening or abusive" behavior intended to "stir up hatred based on prejudice toward characteristics including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics," according to a press release by the Scottish government.The new law warns that people can be prosecuted for sharing offensive rhetoric across multiple media platforms, which includes "displaying, publishing or distributing the material e.g. on a sign; on the internet through websites, blogs, podcasts, social media etc., either directly, or by forwarding or repeating material that originates from a third party; through printed media such as magazine publications or leaflets, etc. Giving, sending, showing or playing the material to another person e.g. through online streaming, by email, playing a video, through public performance of a play, etc." <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/scotland-launch-new-hate-speech-law-april-fools-day-jail-people-7-years" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SCOTLAND TO LAUNCH NEW HATE SPEECH LAW ON APRIL FOOL’S DAY THAT WILL JAIL PEOPLE FOR UP TO 7 YEARS</a><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">People convicted</a> of running afoul of the new laws could face fines and even a prison sentence of up to seven years, with proponents arguing the legislation will send "a strong and clear message to victims, perpetrators, communities and to wider society that offences motivated by prejudice will be treated seriously and will not be tolerated."But the legislation has also been widely panned by critics, with renowned author J.K. Rowling describing the law as "ludicrous" in social media posts last month."If you genuinely imagine I’d delete posts calling a man a man, so as not to be prosecuted under this ludicrous law, stand by for the mother of all April Fools’ jokes," Rowling, a frequent critic of transgender ideology, said on X.Corbett-Dillon pointed to Rowling, noting that the Harry Potter author could be one of those targeted under the new legislation.<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/bbc-disciplines-top-radio-host-calling-trans-women-male-during-radio-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BBC DISCIPLINES TOP RADIO HOST FOR CALLING TRANS WOMEN MALE DURING RADIO SHOW</a>"This law could lead to renowned Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling being arrested because she refuses to call trans people ‘She’ online. This new law does nothing to protect women, or to stop men from entering into female sports competitions, or men entering into women’s bathrooms," Corbet-Dillon said. "Trans people have become a ‘protected community’ in Scotland, but women remain unprotected."The Scottish government has defended the law, with Minister for Victims and Community Safety Siobhian Brown arguing that the country is "building safer communities that live free from hatred and prejudice.""We know that the impact on those on the receiving end of physical, verbal or online attacks can be traumatic and life-changing. This legislation is an essential element of our wider approach to tackling that harm," Brown said in the release.Brown also argued that there were protections for free speech built into the legislation, noting the new offenses would have a "higher threshold for criminality" than old laws that have been in place since 1986.<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/download" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP</a>But critics have still questioned those protections, with Faculty of Advocates’ Criminal Bar Association President Tony Lenehan worrying that the law could target journalists, comedians, debaters and dramatists, in comments to BBC last month.Those claims were pushed back on by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/police-and-law-enforcement" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scotland’s national police</a>, who denied that the agency would proactively "target actors, comedians, or any other people or groups."Nevertheless, Corbet-Dillon argued that the Scottish government should instead focus its attention on protecting free speech."The trans community continue to destroy women’s rights in their desperate pursuit to receive affirmation of their gender delusions," Corbet-Dillon said. "Scotland, and England, both urgently need to enshrine freedom of speech into their laws."

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published: 2024-04-01 17:34:01.000000000 Z
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 guid: https://www.foxnews.com/world/critics-slam-scotlands-new-hate-speech-law-attack-freedom
title: Critics slam Scotland’s new hate speech law as an attack on freedom
categories:
- e78af526-eb20-5aee-9d33-1bb94bdc08df
- fnc
- Fox News
- fox-news/world/world-regions/united-kingdom
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content: Scotland’s controversial new <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/personal-freedoms/first-amendment"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hate speech law</a> went into effect Monday
 despite fierce backlash from critics."Scotland continues to infringe upon
 the right of her citizens to speak freely. This bill will force police to investigate
 those who ‘misgender’ someone online," Thomas Corbett-Dillon, a former adviser to
 Prime Minister Boris Johnson, told Fox News Digital. "In a country riddled by knife
 crime, and with one of the lowest life expectancies in Europe, you would think the
 Scottish Government has more important things to focus on, but no, they are desperate
 to pander to an extremely small group of men in dresses who feel offended when they
 are not referred to as women."The comments come <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/world-regions/united-kingdom"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as Scotland</a> officially announced that
 its hate crime law aimed at providing "greater protection for victims and communities"
 came into force Monday, creating new criminal offenses for those who use "threatening
 or abusive" behavior intended to "stir up hatred based on prejudice toward characteristics
 including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and
 variations in sex characteristics," according to a press release by the Scottish
 government.The new law warns that people can be prosecuted for sharing offensive
 rhetoric across multiple media platforms, which includes "displaying, publishing
 or distributing the material e.g. on a sign; on the internet through websites, blogs,
 podcasts, social media etc., either directly, or by forwarding or repeating material
 that originates from a third party; through printed media such as magazine publications
 or leaflets, etc. Giving, sending, showing or playing the material to another person
 e.g. through online streaming, by email, playing a video, through public performance
 of a play, etc." <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/scotland-launch-new-hate-speech-law-april-fools-day-jail-people-7-years"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SCOTLAND TO LAUNCH NEW HATE SPEECH
 LAW ON APRIL FOOL’S DAY THAT WILL JAIL PEOPLE FOR UP TO 7 YEARS</a><a
 href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener
 noreferrer">People convicted</a> of running afoul of the new laws could face fines
 and even a prison sentence of up to seven years, with proponents arguing the legislation
 will send "a strong and clear message to victims, perpetrators, communities and
 to wider society that offences motivated by prejudice will be treated seriously
 and will not be tolerated."But the legislation has also been widely panned
 by critics, with renowned author J.K. Rowling describing the law as "ludicrous"
 in social media posts last month."If you genuinely imagine I’d delete posts
 calling a man a man, so as not to be prosecuted under this ludicrous law, stand
 by for the mother of all April Fools’ jokes," Rowling, a frequent critic of transgender
 ideology, said on X.Corbett-Dillon pointed to Rowling, noting that the Harry
 Potter author could be one of those targeted under the new legislation.<a
 href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/bbc-disciplines-top-radio-host-calling-trans-women-male-during-radio-show"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BBC DISCIPLINES TOP RADIO HOST
 FOR CALLING TRANS WOMEN MALE DURING RADIO SHOW</a>"This law could
 lead to renowned Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling being arrested because she refuses
 to call trans people ‘She’ online. This new law does nothing to protect women, or
 to stop men from entering into female sports competitions, or men entering into
 women’s bathrooms," Corbet-Dillon said. "Trans people have become a ‘protected community’
 in Scotland, but women remain unprotected."The Scottish government has defended
 the law, with Minister for Victims and Community Safety Siobhian Brown arguing that
 the country is "building safer communities that live free from hatred and prejudice.""We
 know that the impact on those on the receiving end of physical, verbal or online
 attacks can be traumatic and life-changing. This legislation is an essential element
 of our wider approach to tackling that harm," Brown said in the release.Brown
 also argued that there were protections for free speech built into the legislation,
 noting the new offenses would have a "higher threshold for criminality" than old
 laws that have been in place since 1986.<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/download"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS
 APP</a>But critics have still questioned those protections, with
 Faculty of Advocates’ Criminal Bar Association President Tony Lenehan worrying that
 the law could target journalists, comedians, debaters and dramatists, in comments
 to BBC last month.Those claims were pushed back on by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/police-and-law-enforcement"
 target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scotland’s national police</a>, who denied
 that the agency would proactively "target actors, comedians, or any other people
 or groups."Nevertheless, Corbet-Dillon argued that the Scottish government
 should instead focus its attention on protecting free speech."The trans community
 continue to destroy women’s rights in their desperate pursuit to receive affirmation
 of their gender delusions," Corbet-Dillon said. "Scotland, and England, both urgently
 need to enshrine freedom of speech into their laws."
summary: A new Scottish law making it a criminal offense to spread hate speech against
 protected groups online or elsewhere went into force just in time for April Fools&apos;
 Day.
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url: https://www.foxnews.com/world/critics-slam-scotlands-new-hate-speech-law-attack-freedom
image: https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/03/931/523/Scotland.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

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