Posters of hate speech against Istanbul victim may be prosecuted

People who post hate messages on social media risk being prosecuted, according to federal home affairs minister Jan Jambon.

The announcement comes after it was confirmed that Kerim Akyil, the Limburg-born son of second-generation Turkish parents, was one of the victims of the New Year’s Eve terrorist attack in an Istanbul nightclub, leading to a flood of racist messages on Facebook.

Akyil, born and brought up in Houthalen-Helchteren, was remembered at a silent wake this week in the town, where he was buried on Wednesday. “My son and I are a part of this country,” his father, Ali, told VRT News (pictured). “That’s why I will bury him here. These racists are sorry people. They don’t even know what they’re doing.”

Last year, the federal police set up a service called the Internet Referral Unit, whose job is to track down hate speech on the internet.

“Nearly 400 Facebook and Twitter accounts responsible for hate speech, incitement to violent extremism and paedophilia have been taken offline,” Jambon said in a statement. The unit will be reinforced shortly with 15 new appointments.

The federal agency Unia, formerly the Centre for Equal Rights and the Fight Against Racism, said it had opened 365 dossiers last year against hate speech, just under one a day on average and 10% more than in 2015. The centre called on social media sites to act more swiftly in removing hate messages.

A spokesperson for Facebook told De Morgen the site had a set of clear guidelines intended to encourage users to share their opinions “in a responsible manner”. That includes zero tolerance for messages that incite violence or hatred based on nationality, ethnicity or religion.

Meanwhile, the federal police said it would make a report whenever a case of hate speech was discovered, either reported by a member of the public or detected by police services. The report goes to the local prosecutor’s office, which decides whether to ask Facebook for the person’s details.

Thirty-nine people, including 25 foreigners, were killed in the attack on the Reina nightclub in Istanbul. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility, but the perpetrator remains at large and his motives are unclear.

Photo courtesy VRT