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Controversial 'non-crime hate incidents' should be scrapped, a review of the practice has recommended.
Police chiefs have advised ministers that forces in England and Wales should no longer be policing 'toxic culture wars debates' by recording non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs).
The College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs' Council submitted an interim report to ministers last week that suggested the practice should be scrapped, it is understood.
The final review of non-crime hate incidents is expected to be delivered to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in December and, if accepted, would change how police investigate online disputes.
Earlier this week Britain's biggest force, the Metropolitan Police, announced that it would no longer be investigating NCHIs in order to allow officers to focus on 'criminal investigations'.
It came after Scotland Yard dropped a probe into Father Ted creator Graham Linehan following his arrest by five armed police officers over online comments about transgender activists.
The Irish comedy writer, 57, said on Monday that police had informed him no further action would be taken after he was arrested at Heathrow Airport in September over three posts on X.
NCHIs are incidents that do not meet the criminal threshold but are perceived to be motivated by hatred towards characteristics such as race or gender. They have been increasingly used to record petty arguments and critics argue they stifle free of speech and waste police time.
Research suggests they take up to 60,000 hours of police time every year, with more than 13,000 NCHIs logged by police in the year to June last year.
Tom Harding, the College of Policing's director of operational standards, said scrapping NCHIs would stop officers recording 'trivial fallings-out online' and allow them to focus on real policing.
'We will remove NCHIs in their current form. We're not here to deal with differences of opinion or online fallings-out - policing's job is to protect people from harm,' he told the Times.
'At the moment, anything that causes a member of the public concern must be recorded - that's vast. It's gone far beyond policing's core responsibilities.'
He added: 'We think the current definition has drifted too far from what policing is here to do.'
If scrapped police call handlers would have to be retrained in how to record trivial online spats. The interim review reportedly recommends that another body, such as Ofcom, would be responsible for complaints about online behaviour.
Police chiefs will now test real-world scenarios with the Met police, Greater Manchester police and Leicestershire police before submitting the final review in December.
Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the NPCC, said: 'We are reviewing the police approach to dealing with non-crime hate incidents because the current system is not working like it should.
'Police officers are operating in an increasingly polarised world with regulations that expects them to referee societal debate rather than focus on real-world threat and risk.
'We continue to work hard with the College of Policing to progress our review into non-crime hate incidents and will share its findings when complete.
'It is vital that we continue to record and gather intelligence around hate and monitor community tensions, as we remain vigilant to precursors to violence and other more serious crimes.'