South Yorkshire Police non-hate Twitter storm

FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter fornow We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

More than 5,000 people have so far commented on tweet posted by the force with many openly mocking the attempt to curb comments that are not illegal. The force initially asked people on Sunday to take action against hate crimes, which include attacks on race, religion, sexual orientation and disability. But in a follow-up tweet, it said: “In addition to reporting hate crime, please report non-crime hate incidents, which can include things like offensive or insulting comments, online, in person or in writing. “Hate will not be tolerated in South Yorkshire. Report it and put a stop to it.”

But many Twitter users questioned the wisdom of wasting scarce police resources on tracking activity that is not against the law. Paul Joseph Watson said: “The UK has a rampant violent problem, yet people are being told to report ‘offensive or insulting comments’ that don’t even equate to hate crimes. Absurd.” Adam Campbell also tweeted: ”Really? Protecting people's feelings is in no way an appropriate use of police resources!" Another Twitter user, who only calls himself Adam, added: “Don’t you have anything else to do? Like arresting people for owning knives or something.”

South Yorkshire Police tweet response