JK Rowling: 'No further action' against Harry Potter author over hate crime comments, Police Scotland says

Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s posts about Scotland’s new hate crime law are “not criminal”, Police Scotland have said. The force said they received complaints regarding the writer’s posts on X, formerly Twitter, stating transwomen are men and challenging police to arrest her for her views.

Rowling, who said she was out the country, said if her posts were an offence under the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act – which came into force on Monday (April 1) – she would “look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment”. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have received complaints in relation to the social media post. The comments are not assessed to be criminal and no further action will be taken.”

The Government has also been in support of Rowling's statement, saying that the author should not be arrested for her transgender views. The prominent gender critical campaigner, in her comments, tested the law by listing 10 trans women, including a convicted rapist, sex abusers and high profile activists, on X and saying they were men. She added: "Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.

She continued: "I'm currently out of the country, but if what I've written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment."

Scottish ministers have previously said misgendering people would not be an offence under the new law. However, Minister for Victims and Community Safety Siobhan Brown told BBC radio on Monday it would be a matter for police to decide.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Britain had a proud tradition of free speech and that the new law had given the police the wrong priorities."We should not be criminalising people saying common sense things about biological sex."