25
Apr
2017
By Calvin at 09:05 GMT, 6 years ago
A police unit to help tackle online hate crime and provide better support for victims in London has been launched by London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan.
It’s only a small team of five, but they will be investigating any online hate crimes reported to the police by the public in London. This will include hateful abuse posted on media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
I understand that the unit will refer victims to victim support groups and work with local police to investigate allegations.
The mayor’s office said that discussions were underway with social media companies to develop appropriate online sanctions for perpetrators of online hate.
This is going to cost £1.7m in the first two years and the funding has come from the Met, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and a grant from the Home Office (£452K).
With 62,000 hate crime offences being reported and registered across England and Wales each year (and rising steeply) I think this new unit is going to have its work cut out for it. However, it’s a start and I wish them every success.
