Facebook Hamburg offices vandalised as investigation looks into company's failure to monitor xenophobic comments
Facebook's offices in Hamburg have been targeted by over a dozen vandals who smashed glass, threw paint and sprayed “Facebook dislike” on a wall.
According to police in the northern German city, a group of 15-20 people wearing black clothes and hoods descended on the entrance to the building where they carried out the damage.
There is no confirmation as to the motive for the attack, however the stunt coincides with a German investigation involving the company’s Hamburg-based European head, Martin Ott, over the social network’s failure to remove racist hate speech.
Ott, Facebook’s managing director for northern, central and eastern Europe, could be held responsible for not preventing the rise of racist hate speech according to a spokesperson for the prosecution.
The investigation was announced last month following growing concerns in Germany over the rise of xenophobic comments in German on Facebook as the country struggles to deal with the influx of refugees.
Facebook has reportedly claimed that the allegations in the investigation “lack merit” and that there has been no violation of German law by Facebook or its employees.