In the UK, if you have something stolen and you inform the police, all they will do is give you a crime number for your insurance claim. If you have a tracker on your stolen phone and you tell them exactly where it is, they won't even go and try to recover it. But if you write some hurty words on Twitter and someone complains, then the police will be at your door in numbers ready to you record you as an offender, even if no crime has been committed. You will forever be listed as someone who has committed a 'non-crime hate incident'. You may be going for a job in the future where they run a police check on your details and you might not get the job. The record will not show what you did, just that you have offended someone! I don't know for sure the reason for this situation, but it is likely the result of a bad incentive system. The police have quotas they they have to meet in order to measure their effectiveness. Going round to someone's house in order to reprimand them for exercising their right to free speech is much less likely to result in a violent situation against the police, than by trying to confront any real criminals. The incentive system needs to change. View quoted note →