Scotland’s new hate crime law has come into force, and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has claimed that she “looks forward to being arrested”
According to her, the legislation could harm free speech.
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 states that; A person commits an offence if they communicate material, or behave in a manner, “that a reasonable person would consider to be threatening or abusive,” with the intention of stirring up hatred based on the protected characteristics.
The maximum penalty for this is a prison sentence of seven years.
The renowned author has dared the police to arrest her as she expressed her opposition to the new legislation, which came into force on April 1st.
Rowling decried the new legislation in a very lengthy post on her X handle, calling out certain trans women.
“I’m currently out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment,” she wrote.
She added that freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if what she called accurate description of biological sex is “deemed criminal.”
The Scottish government insists the law provides protection from hate and prejudice without stifling individual expression.
Meanwhile, Rowling, who has faced condemnation for a number of remarks which have been perceived as transphobic, was reported to the police last month over accusations of transphobic abuse, after she said a certain broadcaster, India Willoughby “didn’t become a woman” and is “cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is”.