Anti-Muslim, racist messages posted to South Yorkshire police Facebook page

The Yorkshire Post reports on comments found posted on South Yorkshire Police force’s Facebook page which readers have criticised as racist, offensive, and appearing to place the blame for the child sex abuse in Rotherham on Muslims.

South Yorkshire Police posted a thank you message on its Facebook page, expressing gratitude for the ‘peaceful’ Muslim Youth demonstration in Rotherham last weekend. The demo by local Muslim groups was held a week after an English Defence League protest in the city. The message posted by South Yorkshire police however attracted a number of other posts of an offensive nature with readers complaining to the force that the messages ought to be moderated and removed.

One of those who complained about the postings told the local paper, “The messages which appeared are hateful and racist. It’s disgusting, there are all sorts of things on there, including threats and it is a public page the police use to get information out there.

“I complained about it on Saturday and the officer told me they’d pass it on to a supervisor, but still nothing has been done.”

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said the force would not take the posts down but said those regarded to be in breach of the law would be investigated. She said:

“All social media activity is monitored and moderated. Any comment or post found to be offensive or racist, or any material deemed to breach legislation, will be investigated and the appropriate action taken. If someone sees a comment that they believe requires investigation, they should report this to police and not use social media as a crime reporting tool.”