ONLINE hate reports fell by 75% in the second week since the Hate Crime Act was introduced, according to Police Scotland.
The force revealed data that shows there were 1832 online hate reports received April 8 and 14, down from 7152 the previous week.
This comes after the introduction of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 on April 1.
The vast majority of reports received during this period were anonymous. These were assessed against the new legislation and no further action is being taken.
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Officers recorded 213 hate crimes in the same time period, down from 240 the week before.
And 25 non-crime hate incidents, five fewer than the previous seven days.
The data can be found here.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have seen a significant reduction in the number of online hate reports and these continue to be managed within our contact centres with minimal impact on frontline policing.
“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."
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