Hate groups appear on social networking site

Hate groups based in Finland have recently appeared on the social networking site Facebook. Many of these groups contain implicit or explicit racist remarks and are aimed specifically against refugees.

One group has over 14,000 members. It uses as its logo the caricature of a black face and exaggerated red lips that was formerly used by Cloetta Fazer on its lakritsi liquorice. The group’s stated policy is that Somalia is a safe place to live and that Somalis should be sent back to that nation from Finland. It even suggests taking up a collection to gather the funds needed. Although the front page of the group has been carefully constructed to avoid overt racist language, a deeper look into the material posted finds more troubling material.
The group has five administrators who use photographs of individuals such as Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun and Nazi death camp overseer Heinrich Himmler as their profile images. One member uses a photo of an African face being punched by a white fist. Nazi exclamations have been repeatedly posted on the message board by one of the administrators.

One of the pictures posted by the group is of a man aiming an assault rifle at the camera. The caption of the photo refers to the other alternative to leaving the country. The picture has been greeted by a chorus of agreement from the members.

“Yes, we have already received one complaint about this group,” says Yrsa Nyman, Senior Officer at the Ombudsman for Minorities. “We collect information about groups such as this and send them on to the police.”

If material is deemed racist or discriminatory, the service provider is often asked to remove it. In most cases they do so. If the provider does not remove the material further steps are necessary. The Ombudsman for Minorities office points out that according to the Equality Act harassment is discrimination.

In the past Facebook has removed pages that violate its terms of use. The company’s terms of use forbids the publishing of content that is threatening, hateful, or racially and ethnically offensive. In November it removed seven neo-Nazi group pages that had caught the attention of a member of the European Parliament.

Another xenophobic group created on Facebook wants all refugees removed from Finland. On the message board a member states, “Yeah, they should all be put in that public shower that was not really a shower, but they still got fresh and clean-up was successful.” The statement apparently refers to the Nazi practice of disguising gas chambers as communal showers. Another member of the group does not mince words. He clearly states: “The best Somali is a dead Somali.”

“The person who has written the text is primarily responsible,” explains Nyman. “But in our opinion the providers of services, if they allow it, could also get in trouble.”

Source: Helsinki Times