Two ‘racist’ Facebook groups under investigation
The police are investigating two separate groups on the internet social networking site Facebook, in connection with racist comments and incitement to racial hatred and violence.
14 June 2010, 12:00am
Raphael Vassallo
Raphael Vassallo
1 min read
The Justice and Home Affairs Ministry this week confirmed that a group entitled ‘Dawk kollha li jixtieq jehilsu mill-klandestini jamlu join’ (‘All those who want to get rid of immigrants, join this group’) is currently the subject of a police investigation.
The group, which has no administrators, was set up in early April and quickly attracted over 1,000 members. Among the comments posted on its wall were references to violent crimes already committed against immigrants.
Police sources have separately confirmed another investigation into a second Facebook group, believed to contain much more serious cases of incitement to violence.
This particular group cannot be identified with any certainty, as it has meanwhile been removed from the site by Facebook’s management, following complaints by users.
No arrests have so far been made in either case. To date, the only conviction for incitement to violence to have originated from a Facebook group comment remains that of Karl Farrugia, who last month received a suspended sentence and a fine of €500 for posting a comment on the group ‘No to Pope Benedict XVI’s visit’.
