The people’s ombudsman Mihail Cotorobai expressed his concern about the placing of a posting that incites hatred and violence on a social networking site on April 9. In a press release, the ombudsman makes reference to the image of a hanging person with the word “Union” written on him, accompanied by a description in Russian, which says that “the unionist fascists” will also face hanging after the parliamentary elections, IPN reports.

The people’s ombudsman says such messages that incite the exclusion of groups of persons, violence against persons or groups of persons and that propagate particular stereotypes and generate hatred and division among the people are especially dangerous.

According to Mihai Cotorobai, hate speech online is very dangerous and necessitates increased attention on the part of the authorities as the Internet can have a multiplier effect. Such actions can degenerate into crimes motivated by hatred or can cause social tensions ore can even split society.

The people’s ombudsman called on the Prosecutor General’s Office and the General Police Inspectorate to urgently intervene in this case and to make sure that the given posting is withdrawn from the social networking site and to take action in accordance with the national legislation.