First minister calls for end to vexatious reports after far-right agitators attempt to ‘overwhelm’ official systems

First minister calls for end to vexatious reports after far-right agitators attempt to ‘overwhelm’ official systems

Neo-Nazi and far-right agitators are exploiting Scotland’s new hate crime law to make vexatious complaints en masse in an attempt to “overwhelm” police systems.

A prominent figure in England’s white nationalist movement is among those urging followers to spam Police Scotland with anonymous online reports, the *Observer *has found.

The leader of a far-right group – one of several fringe organisations being assessed by the UK government under its new extremism definition – promoted a private channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram that includes a “call to action” urging members to “mass report”.

Posts in the channel instruct members to log cases of supposed “anti-white” hate, which they say includes a statement on the police force’s website that “young men aged 18-30 are most likely to commit hate crime”.

  • Olap@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    7 months ago

    Anonymous complaints are a terrible idea. No wlnder this has been targetted

    • Minotaur@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      7 months ago

      Anonymous complaints are a good thing, it’s often important to be able to report something non-publicly. It’s just being exploited here.

        • Minotaur@lemm.eeEnglish
          0·
          7 months ago

          I agree ACAB, that’s why anonymous complaints are a good thing. That way the cops can’t easily retaliate on you if you report a neo-nazi threat you saw on Facebook and it turns out to be their buddy

          • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.eeEnglish
            0·
            7 months ago

            What is this scenario are you creating in your head? Since when do police do anything about Facebook?

            • Minotaur@lemm.eeEnglish
              01·
              7 months ago

              Yeah man I think police are on the whole stupid bastards but I still think if you reported seeing a post from a neo nazi saying he’s going to burn down the local gay bar on Facebook they’d still look into it

                • Minotaur@lemm.eeEnglish
                  01·
                  7 months ago

                  Once… what is happening in this US?

                  Are you not aware that people are punished / investigated for social media postings every single day? This is really not hidden news man lol