Minister: Police investigating people expressing approval of Christchurch attack online

In connection with the terrorist attack in New Zealand’s Christchurch, the Czech minister of the interior, Jan Hamáček, says the country’s police force are investigating all instances of people expressing approval on the internet of criminal acts. Mr. Hamáček said on Twitter that officers had begun monitoring such cases on Friday.

Police chief Jan Švejdar said that the force would not tolerate any expressions of agreement with terrorism, extremism or hate speech. Czech police have responded to internet hate speech in the past, including in late 2017, when they dealt with cases of vitriol directed at a photo of a mixed-race group of primary school children.

Forty-nine people were murdered and dozens more were seriously injured in a gun attack on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday.

Author: Ian Willoughby