A figure in England's white nationalist movement is encouraging followers to spam Police Scotland with anonymous online complaints using the encrypted messaging app Telegram.

A far-right group leader also promoted a "call to action" on Telegram, urging members to report perceived "anti-white" hate, including a statement on the police force's website about young men being most likely to commit hate crimes.

The first minister of Scotland has called for an end to these vexatious reports.

A hate crime reporting group on social media was offended by messages targeting a specific group and labeled it as racially motivated.

The group's administrator urged members to mass report tweets from the public, including a former local councillor, for allegedly singling out white men as evil.

The administrator's goal was to overwhelm the system and waste the time of those being reported.

This comes after Scotland's new hate crime legislation faced criticism from far-right actors.

A new law in the UK, effective from 1 April, makes it a criminal offense to communicate threatening or abusive material or behave in a way that a reasonable person would find offensive, with the intention of stirring up hatred based on protected characteristics.

These include age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, variations in sex characteristics, race, color, and nationality.

The Scottish government asserts that the law provides greater protection to victims while safeguarding free speech.

However, the law has faced criticism for not including sex as a protected characteristic.

Ministers argue that a separate bill addressing misogyny is under development.

The Scottish government passed a new hate crime law, which critics argue will stifle free speech.

High-profile figures like JK Rowling, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk have spoken out against the law.

Rowling challenged authorities to arrest her for misgendering someone online, but police said her tweets were not criminal.

In response, Rowling posted a statement expressing her concerns over women's rights.

Scotland's first minister, Humza Yousaf, defended the legislation, stating that false information about the law was being spread, and it does not criminalize derogatory comments based on protected characteristics.

A new hate crime law in Scotland has led to over 4,000 reports in its first three days, according to Police Scotland.

The law has a "high threshold for criminality" and is not intended to prevent people from expressing controversial views.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned against making vexatious complaints and expressed concern over the number of reports, stating that they are wasting police resources and time.

Many reports were reportedly made against First Minister Sturgeon herself for comments she made four years ago about the lack of non-white people in top jobs in Scotland.

Police Scotland reported a significant increase in hate crime reports since the new law against hate speech came into effect.

The force has hired additional staff to handle the increased demand, but it has not affected frontline policing.

Imran Ahmed from the Center for Countering Digital Hate criticized the implementation of the law, stating that it was being misused by the same hate groups it was intended to target.

He argued that the Scottish government aimed to prosecute speech rather than holding social media platforms accountable for the proliferation of hate speech and their profit from it.

The Association of Scottish Police Superintendents (ASPS) expressed concern before a new law was enacted, predicting it would negatively impact police resources.

In a letter to Holyrood's justice committee, ASPS President Ch Supt Rob Hay voiced worry that the law could be misused by an "activist fringe" from various political spectrums, potentially diverting police attention from more serious crimes.