Complaints over Facebook ‘racial hatred’ page

A Cork-based migrant rights group has made an official complaint to gardaí about a Facebook page which it claims is inciting racial hatred.

A Sinn Féin town councillor yesterday defriended himself from the “Athlone Con Artists” page, which was set up less than two weeks ago to “name and shame the people who are coming into our town and bleeding us dry and then add insult to injury beg on our streets and beg at our church gates”.

Among the 600-plus “friends” is a fake account for model Georgia Salpa. Last night, she said it may prompt her to complain about the number of fake accounts in her name.

The page includes photographs of members of the Roma Community, and also has some video content.

It has already gained more than 600 friends, although many of the comments on the page have criticised it and its content.

Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre based in Cork, said it received a complaint from a member of the public last week, and its Roma rights officer made an official complaint to gardaí in Cork’s Anglesea St Station under the Incitement to Hatred Act.

A spokesperson for Nasc said that since it had made a report with gardaí, it had not contacted Facebook directly about the page.

“At this stage, because we decided to go the criminal [law] path, we are leaving it up to gardaí to get in touch with Facebook,” said Jennifer DeWan of Nasc.

It is understood the woman in Athlone who made the initial report may also file a complaint with gardaí in the Co Westmeath town.

“Where we are coming from it is a direct violation of the Incitement to Hatred Act,” Ms DeWan said.

One person who until yesterday was a “friend” of the page is Tullamore Town councillor Brendan Killeavy.

He yesterday removed his name from the page and said someone in his office must have added him as a friend of the page.

“I have never seen the content,” he said. “I definitely would not be friends with the like of that,”

Ms Salpa said: “I am not on Facebook but I have one official page — I have not gone on Facebook in a year or over that.

“I have to monitor that [fake pages] and I have complained a lot of times about fake accounts but they seem to stay up there.”

She said “loads of her friends” had similar problems and that it was “strange”, particularly having her name linked with a Facebook page such as Athlone Con Artists.