Hateful comments splashed across the Black Affairs Council Facebook page.

That’s where it all started.

It led to a silent march and ultimately a demand from the President of the University for a legal investigation.

Sherry Lang of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the GBI is working with the University of Georgia Police.

“What we do, is we go in, and we look to see what they’re doing,” Lang says about their relation to the University Police. “And we see if they are doing what needs to be done– if they are following the appropriate investigative steps for the investigation.  And we’ve done that.  And what we’ve seen is they are doing what they need to do regarding computer identity theft.”

An investigation that includes Facebook.

We had spoken with Facebook via email.  They said they block hateful comments, but the issue was they were popping up again and again.  That’s when Facebook says they simply have to rely on its “community of users” to report offensive posts.

In their email, Facebook acknowledges what often happens.  Even if the post is blocked, the person behind it can show up again… as someone else.

 

By: Karli Barnett

Photographer: Samantha German