Scotland’s Authoritarian Blasphemy Law Takes Effect

J. K. Rowling, the Harry Potter author who lives in Scotland, is leading the charge against the country’s authoritarian Hate Crime and Public Order Act.

The recently implemented bill criminalizes “stirring up hatred” — an offense that occurs when a person says, displays, publishes, distributes, gives, sends, shows, or plays something that “a reasonable person would consider to be threatening, abusive, or insulting” toward a protected characteristic. There needn’t be any specific victim of the crime. Third-party reporting sites are now operational where citizens can go snitch on each other for “hateful” speech. One of these sites is a sex shop in Glasgow. Another is a salmon and trout wholesaler in Berwickshire. (I’m not kidding.)

About the Author

Madeleine Kearns

Madeleine Kearns is a former staff writer at National Review.

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J. K. Rowling, the Harry Potter author who lives in Scotland, is leading the charge against the country’s authoritarian Hate Crime and Public Order Act.

The recently implemented bill criminalizes “stirring up hatred” — an offense that occurs when a person says, displays, publishes, distributes, gives, sends, shows, or plays something that “a reasonable person would consider to be threatening, abusive, or insulting” toward a protected characteristic. There needn’t be any specific victim of the crime. Third-party reporting sites are now operational where citizens can go snitch on each other for “hateful” speech. One of these sites is a sex shop in Glasgow. Another is a salmon and trout wholesaler in Berwickshire. (I’m not kidding.)