Conservatives' attempt to repeal hate speech law that made Scotland an ‘international mockery’ fails

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Scotland’s hate crime law sparks backlash for free speech concerns

Fox News Greg Palkot breaks down Scotland’s controversial hate crime law.

Scottish conservatives attempted to repeal a controversial new hate speech law Wednesday, saying its passage made Scotland an "international mockery."

The Scottish parliament voted to keep the Hate Crime and Public Order Act after a challenge from Scottish Conservatives, which cited concerns that its vague wording, expansive coverage and potentially selective enforcement could be disastrous for common people.

Sky News reported Scottish Conservative politician Russell Findlay MSP had argued the new law "transformed Scotland into a place of international mockery," and warned it was a "disaster on paper, and it's a disaster in reality."

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Scotland's First Minister, Humza Yousaf, is credited for having been a driving force behind the hate speech bill that has become an international news story. (Photo by Robert Perry - Pool/Getty Images)

J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter franchise, made international headlines when she tested the hate speech law’s enforcement by criticizing transgender ideology. While the government and Scottish police stood down and claimed the law allows such speech, others, both for and against the law, suspected this was a case of selective enforcement.

Citing Rowling's challenge, Findlay went on, "But what of those without her cash and clout? Even if prosecutions are unlikely, being subject to investigation can be daunting, disruptive, humiliating and financially costly. Police arriving at your home or workplace, taken away in handcuffs, phone seized, forced to pay for a lawyer. Stigmatising and damaging to personal reputations and employment prospects."

Scottish police have reportedly been inundated by thousands of complaints since the law went into effect on April 1. 

"This is about rejecting division by turning Scot against Scot. To clype [tattle] on friends, colleagues and family," Findlay said. "And based on the evidence, we were right to vote against this law three years ago. And based on the evidence, we are right to call for its repeal today."

Scottish Conservative politician Russell Findlay is one of the hate speech bill's many critics. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

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Scotland's top politician, First Minister Humza Yousaf, who is credited with shepherding the bill through parliament, derided the effort to repeal it as "frankly dangerous," noting before the debate that he was "pretty confident" it would be rejected.

"If we repealed the hate crime act, we'd have virtually no protection against hatred for people here in Scotland in relation to their race or their religion or their sexual orientation or their disability or their transgender identity," Yousaf said, according to Sky News. "So, repealing that would almost give carte blanche to people in Scotland, send a signal to people in Scotland, that minority that indulge in hate, that actually their hatred was acceptable."

"And that's what the Conservatives want to try to bring to the parliament. It's disgraceful. It's dangerous," he added.

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The text of the bill, originally introduced years before, warns against acts that "stir up hatred" against various groups based on various identities, such as being transgender. The maximum penalty for violating this new law is a seven-year jail sentence.

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The Scottish parliament's explanatory notes on the law say Scots can be prosecuted for sharing offensive rhetoric, by "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. 

"Making the material available to another person in any way e.g. through the spoken word, the written word, electronic communications, etc. either directly (as the originator of the material), or by forwarding or repeating the material."