New guidelines for online hate crimes.

New guidelines have been issued to crack down on online hate.

Online Hate Crime and the Law

Online hate can cause serious harm. Abuse posted on social media, messaging platforms, forums or other digital services can reach a wide audience quickly, remain visible for a long time and encourage others to join in. In some cases, online abuse may amount to a criminal offence.

The law does not treat abuse as harmless simply because it happens online. Where a message is threatening, abusive, harassing or motivated by hostility towards a protected characteristic, police and prosecutors may treat it seriously.

What Is Online Hate Crime?

A hate crime is usually an offence where the victim, or any other person, believes it was motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a protected characteristic. The recognised strands include race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity.

Online hate crime can include abusive posts, threatening messages, targeted harassment, racist or religious abuse, homophobic or transphobic abuse, disability hate, doxxing, coordinated harassment, incitement to violence or encouraging others to target a person or group.

Online Abuse Can Be as Serious as Offline Abuse

Online abuse can be as damaging as abuse shouted in the street, and in some cases it may be worse because of its scale, permanence and visibility. A single post can be widely shared, copied, screenshotted, and repeatedly viewed by the victim.

Coordinated online abuse, sometimes called pile-on harassment, can be especially harmful. What may appear to one user as a single comment may form part of hundreds or thousands of abusive messages directed at the same person.

Criminal Offences That May Apply

Online hate may be prosecuted under several different laws, depending on the facts. Relevant offences may include malicious communications, threatening communications, harassment, stalking, public order offences, racially or religiously aggravated offences, stirring up hatred offences or offences created by the Online Safety Act 2023.

The correct offence will depend on the wording used, the intended audience, whether the communication was public or private, whether there was a threat, whether there was a course of conduct, and whether hostility towards a protected characteristic can be proved.

Threats and Harassment

Messages that threaten serious harm, encourage violence, repeatedly target a victim or cause fear and distress may cross the line into criminal conduct. Harassment can arise from a course of conduct, meaning more than one incident, and can include online messages, comments, emails or contact through different accounts.

False or Harmful Communications

The Online Safety Act introduced offences dealing with certain harmful communications, including threatening communications and false communications where the legal test is met. These offences are not aimed at every offensive or unpleasant comment, but at communications meeting specific statutory requirements.

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of expression is an important part of a democratic society. Strong criticism, political debate, satire, lawful protest and unpopular opinions are not automatically criminal simply because they upset or offend someone.

However, freedom of speech does not give a person a right to threaten, harass, intimidate or abuse others unlawfully. The legal question is often whether the communication crosses the line from lawful expression into criminal conduct.

Children and Young People

Online hate involving children and young people must be handled carefully. A child may not fully understand the consequences of posting abusive content, sharing material or joining in online harassment.

That does not mean children are immune from consequences. Depending on age, seriousness and harm caused, the police, school, local authority or youth justice system may become involved. In some cases, education, safeguarding or diversion may be more appropriate than prosecution, but serious conduct can still lead to criminal action.

Responsibilities of Online Platforms

Social media companies and other online services now have greater regulatory responsibilities under the Online Safety Act. Regulated services may be required to assess risks, address illegal content, provide reporting systems, and take steps to protect users from certain types of harm.

Platform reporting tools can help remove abusive content or suspend accounts, but they are not a substitute for contacting the police where there are threats, harassment, stalking, hate crime or risk of harm.

What Victims Should Do

Victims of online hate should try to preserve evidence before blocking, deleting or reporting content. Useful evidence may include screenshots, URLs, usernames, profile links, dates, times, messages, comments, emails and details of any witnesses.

Where there are threats, repeated harassment, stalking, intimate image abuse, doxxing or fear of violence, the matter should be reported to the police. Victims may also report content to the platform and seek advice from a solicitor where there is continuing harm.

What if You Are Accused of Online Hate?

Anyone accused of posting online hate should take the allegation seriously. Deleting content, contacting the complainant, posting further comments or encouraging others to get involved may make the situation worse.

Legal advice may be important before attending a voluntary police interview, responding to allegations, accepting a caution or agreeing to any outcome. Online communications cases can involve difficult issues of context, intent, identity, evidence and freedom of expression.

When Legal Advice May Be Needed

Victims may need legal advice where online hate involves threats, harassment, stalking, discrimination, defamation, privacy breaches, employment issues or repeated targeting. A solicitor can advise on police reports, civil injunctions, complaints, evidence preservation and possible claims.

Suspects may need advice where they are contacted by police, invited for interview, accused by an employer or education provider, or face possible criminal proceedings. Early advice can help protect legal rights and avoid unnecessary escalation.

Current Position

Online hate is treated as a serious issue by police, prosecutors and regulators. The CPS recognises that online abuse can have real-world consequences, and online platforms now face greater duties under the Online Safety Act.

The law must still balance protection from abuse with freedom of expression. Each case depends on the content, context, intent, harm caused, protected characteristic involved and evidence available.

Disclaimer

Solicitors.com is not a firm of solicitors and does not provide legal advice. The information on this page is for general guidance only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for advice from a regulated solicitor. Criminal law, communications law and online safety regulation can change, and how the law applies will depend on the facts of each case.

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