According to Police Scotland, in the first week following the contentious new law's implementation, over 7,000 hate crime reports were filed. On April 1, the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force, which resulted in an influx of complaints. According to the force, 7,152 online complaints were made between April 1 and April 7. In the first week after a hate crime tag was introduced, police dealt with 430 instances in addition to the over 7,000 online reports. They also received 141 emails addressed to Police Scotland and 34 calls to either 101 or 999 regarding hate crimes. But of these, 240 were recorded as hate crimes – 3.3% of all reports – while 30 were logged as non-crime hate incidents, meaning they did not meet the threshold for a criminal offence. The vast majority of complaints, police said, were made anonymously. Slides produced by Police Scotland also showed two complaints made under the new Act stemming from the Old Firm match on Sunday. Concerns had been raised ahead of the legislation being enforced of both the impact on free speech and the readiness of officers to deal with it.

We have issued data relating to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. Data shows there were 7152 online hate reports received 1 April to 7 April. During this period 240 hate crimes and 30 non-crime hate incidents recorded. View the data: https://t.co/PROiKMRkJw pic.twitter.com/L6i3Pj7yb8

— Police Scotland (@PoliceScotland) April 10, 2024

According to the slides, more than four out of five (80.49%) of officers have undertaken the two-hour training course on the application of the legislation. A spokesperson for the force said: “This data highlights the substantial increase in the number of online hate reports being received since April 1. “This significant demand continues to be managed within our contact centres and, so far, the impact on frontline policing, our ability to answer calls and respond to those who need our help in communities across Scotland has been minimal. “All complaints received are reviewed by officers, supported by dedicated hate crime advisers, and dealt with appropriately, whether that is being progressed for further assessment, or closed as they do not meet the criteria under the legislation”.