UK police force established to combat online abuse on Facebook and Twitter
Twitter trolls and those posting hate speech and abuse online in the UK are under threat as Scotland Yard has launched new police force intent on cracking down on the practice.
Online abuse
The The Online Hate Crime Hub is supported by a £1.7m drive, funded for a two-year period backed by the Home Office. It is designed to cut through the “veil of anonymity” offered by social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, in the hope the team can track down the worst offenders.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “By establishing this unit we are sending a strong message to those who use online forums to spread hate that their actions will not be tolerated.
“The Met encourage all victims of hate crime to report any incident to the police and will make every effort to hold offenders to account and bring them to justice.”
The group will investigate the most serious cases of harassment reported to UK police forces.