Home Secretary Amber Rudd has announced a new national hub to tackle the emerging threat of online hate crime.
The hub, run by police officers for the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), will work to ensure online cases are managed effectively and efficiently.
It will clearly set out the force responsible for further action in each case, removing any uncertainty which could arise when, for example, a victim is located in one area, with the alleged perpetrator in another.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said:
‘Online hate crime is completely unacceptable. What is illegal offline is illegal online, and those who commit these cowardly crimes should be met with the full force of the law.
The national online hate crime hub that we are funding is an important step to ensure more victims have the confidence to come forward and report the vile abuse to which they are being subjected.
The hub will also improve our understanding of the scale and nature of this despicable form of abuse. With the police, we will use this new intelligence to adapt our response so that even more victims are safeguarded and perpetrators punished.’
