EDMONTON — Individuals are criticizing the Edmonton Police Service after the agency made a social media post encouraging individuals to report online "hate" comments and used anti-immigration comments as examples. "You typed it. Someone lived it," reads the caption of an EPS post made on Friday. "Online hate isn't 'just a comment.' It hurts real people and harms real communities. Hate has no home here..." The post contained a video featuring supposed "hate" comments, multiple of which were aimed at immigrants, such as, "Send them back home!" .EPS officials deleted the post, but not before it could spark frustration from individuals. "The fact that an organization like the Edmonton Police published this and included a link encouraging people to report mean tweets, and then deleted it is deeply concerning," reads a post by lawyer Eva Chipiuk. "It demonstrates a troubling misunderstanding of the law by the very institution entrusted with enforcing it. Police are expected to understand the legal distinction between offensive or unpopular expression and criminal conduct before asking the public to report it.".EPS claims a "hate incident" is "a non-criminal action committed against a person or property, motivated in whole or in part by the suspect’s hate, bias or prejudice towards an identifiable group, defined by real or perceived colour, race religion, national or ethnic origin, age sex, sexual identity, gender identity or expression, or any other similar factor.”In 2023, the service launched a "hate incidents" online reporting tool. "Police resources should be focused on investigating real crime and protecting public safety, not inventing new standard or creating confusion about the line between offensive speech and criminal conduct," Chipiuk wrote. "In a free and democratic society, offensive or unpopular opinions should not become the subject of police reports simply because someone disagrees with them. We must educate people, elevate the conversation, and encourage respectful dialogue, but that responsibility begins with those in positions of leadership and public trust.""If we want a better conversation, it must start at the top, not the bottom."
