Scotland Yard is to set up a £1.7m “troll-hunting” unit to target online hate crime, it has emerged.
The Online Hate Crime Hub, which will receive £450,000 from the Home Office, aims to support victims and receive technology training to identify offenders.
The London mayor’s office for policing and crime (Mopac) said a consultation on crime reduction had identified the increasing role online hate played in targeting individuals and communities. The consultation found social media provided hate-crime perpetrators with a veil of anonymity, making it harder to bring them to justice and potentially affecting a larger number of people.
“The Metropolitan police service is committed to working with our partners, including the mayor, to tackle all types of hate crime including offences committed online,” a spokesman for the Met 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 Metropolitan police service continues to have a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of hate crime. The Met encourages 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.”
Mopac also found the police response to online hate crime was inconsistent, primarily because police officers were not equipped to tackle it.
The team, including one detective inspector, one detective sergeant, and three detective constables, will identify the location of crimes and allocate them to the appropriate force. They will also aim to develop links with volunteers who will report both criminal and non-criminal online hate incidents.
