Wiesbaden, Germany, Feb 25, (dpa/GNA) – German police on Wednesday conducted raids, searched premises and trawled through mobile phone data in a countrywide operation to counter Nazi ideology and other extremism on the internet.
The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in Wiesbaden said the target was mainly social media posts, based on 140 investigations into politically motivated criminal acts across all 16 states.
Suspects were ordered to report to police stations, and officers paid visits to homes to secure material on phones.
A little more than half the investigations targeted the extreme right wing in the country, while left wing and religious ideologies were also investigated.
The BKA, which coordinated the operation, said it had found evidence relating to incitement, the use of symbols linked to banned and terrorist organizations, to the approval of crimes and to insults.
The use of Nazi symbols, such as the swastika and the Hitler salute, are banned in Germany, as is repetition of Nazi slogans.
The BKA called on the public to notify the authorities of criminal internet content, as its dissemination could “provide a breeding ground for radicalization and provoke acts of violence.”
GNA