Breitbart London contacted dozens of forces to ask for their working definition of “hostility” and was referred on to the “dictionary definition” which includes “unfriendliness” and “dislike”.
Cheshire Police has previously warned users of social media not to post “offensive” comments or you “could face a large fine or up to two years in prison” and the Glasgow force has demanded people be “kind” online.
North Yorkshire Police simply sent Breitbart London the Citizen’s Advice and Home Office definition of a hate crime, as “any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice”.
“The victim does not have to justify or provide evidence of their belief, and police officers and staff should not directly challenge this perception. Evidence of the hostility is not required for an incident to be recorded as a hate crime or hate incident.”
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