SCOTLAND'S new hate crime law has sparked major controversy since it was rolled out on Monday - here's everything you need to know.
JK Rowling and Elon Musk are just two high profile figures hitting out against the new legislation brought into effect by the First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf.
What is Scotland's new hate crime law?
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 created a new crime, "stirring up hatred" relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex.
Within the new law, a person is considered to have committed an offence if they say, post, or behave in a manner, "that a reasonable person would consider to be threatening or abusive," with the intention of stirring up hatred based on protected characteristics.
A person convicted of the crime could face a maximum sentence of seven years behind bars.
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It was brought in on April 1 as a way to provide extra protection to vulnerable communities.
It was already illegal to incite hatred based on race, colour, nationality and ethnicity in Britain under the Public Order Act 1986.
The new law incorporates these protected characteristics but also creates a new offence of “threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred” on the grounds of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics.
The threshold is lower for these new protected characteristics.
A person could be convicted if the prosecution can prove stirring up hatred was "likely" rather than "intended".
The legislation was passed by a majority of MSPs in the Scottish parliament in 2021 but it took a long time to go through.
Why is it controversial?
Scotland's new law has proved to be controversial with many claiming it will infringe on the right to free speech.
And, the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents (ASPS) have warned "activist fringe" groups could "weaponise" the legislation.
The ASPS also blasted the move for its potential to waste police time when the force is already overstretched.
They claimed there would be “enough anger and hateful bile online to occupy every police officer in Scotland”.
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Meanwhile, SNP MP Joanna Cherry agreed, saying she believed the new law “will be weaponised by trans rights activists to try to silence, and worse still criminalise, women who do not share their beliefs”.
Susan Smith, the director of campaign group For Women Scotland, also told Sky News: "Much of this is very vague as stirring up offences seems to be based on someone's perception that someone is being hateful towards them, and they can make a complaint and the police are saying they will investigate everything."
She added that the new law could be used by "malicious" people looking to "settle scores".
The Scottish Conservatives have also called for the act to be axed.
Russell Findlay MSP, shadow justice secretary for the Scottish Tories, said: "Humza Yousaf's hate crime act comes into force on April Fools' Day but it is really no joke for the people of Scotland."
He claimed the police force should be able to focus on "real crimes" rather than looking into "malicious and spurious complaints".
Siobhian Brown MSP, minister for victims and community safety admitted a person "could be investigated" by police for misgendering someone online.
"It would be a police matter for them to assess what happens," she said told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Monday.
"It could be reported and it could be investigated - whether or not the police would think it was criminal is up to Police Scotland."
However she did say there would be a "very high threshold" in what is considered "threatening and abusive" over the internet.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Police Federation say the training is "inadequate" for the new law.
More backlash was sparked when the bill was being passed over the exclusion of women.
Adding sex to the list of protected characteristics was suggested as a way to combat misogynistic abuse, but it was not included.
A group led by Helena Kennedy KC even called for an act to help tack the issue of harassment.
It is understood this has been timetabled to be reviewed at a later date, but no more information is available.
Meanwhile, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan slammed the Scottish hate speech rules as "terrible bit of legislation".
She vowed similar laws will never be enacted in England.
Ms Keegan told Times Radio: "People shouldn't be criminalised for just stating biological facts and it does seem odd that one of the ministers in Scotland said, that you could be arrested for misgendering.
"I'm pretty sure that the police in Scotland, as are the police in England, should be much more focussed on fighting crime, than policing people's thoughts.
"So this is a terrible bit of legislation. It's not something that will be introduced in this country."
The Education Secretary added: "It's really, really important that, biological facts, people can say biological facts and that is a protected... This is free speech."
What has Humza Yousaf said about the new law?
First Minister Humza Yousaf previously told Sky News "hatred has been far too pervasive in our society".
"We have to take strong action against it. We have to have a zero-tolerance approach to it," he continued.
He also insisted he had "every confidence in police investigating matters of hatred appropriately" while protecting free speech.
At First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Mr Yousaf claimed he had "absolute faith" in officers' ability to distinguish between malicious complaints and real crimes.
Mr Yousaf has repeatedly urged for the squashing of "disinformation" about the new law.
He states there is a "triple lock" to protect people's freedom of speech.
A safeguarding measure in the "lock" includes an explicit clause on free speech.
There is also a defence for a person accused if they can prove they were being "reasonable" at the time.
The act is also compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights.
What has JK Rowling said?
The Harry Potter author slammed trans zealots yesterday as the new hate crime law came in.
Rowling posted several strongly worded messages on X/Twitter, daring police "arrest me" while she called out trans women criminals and activists.
The reeling national treasure, 58, blasted the new law and said it was open to abuse by activists out to “silence those of us speaking out about the dangers of eliminating women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces”.
She highlighted cases including that of Isla Bryson, previously Adam Graham.
Heavy with sarcasm, she said rapist Bryson “found her true authentic female self shortly before she was due to be sentenced”.
She added: “Misgendering is hate, so respect Isla’s pronouns, please.”
In the same vein, she said Samantha Norris — jailed after she had “exposed her penis” to two young girls — was “still a lady to me”.
Amy George, who got 20 years for sexually abusing a girl he abducted while dressed as a woman, and broadcaster India Willougby were also targeted.
But in a further message, Rowling then added: “April Fools! Obviously the people mentioned in the above tweets aren’t women at all, but men, every last one of them.”
PM Rishi Sunak has backed Rowling, saying: “People should not be criminalised for stating simple facts on biology.
“We believe in free speech in this country.”
Even Labour this morning came out to back Rowling - despite the party's MSPs supporting the hate laws in Holyrood.
National Campaign Coordinator Pat Mcfadden said: "She shouldn't be arrested.
"She's entitled to her view. In the UK we are not planning to legislate for new crimes in this area."
Meanwhile, Elon Musk posted on X/Twitter about the new legislation and wrote: "An example of why it is so important to preserve freedom of speech."
