ByJonathan Kalmus, Jonathan Kalmus
No charges of internet race hate will be brought against five men associated with a far-right group which runs antisemitic Facebook pages.
The men, four from the north of England and one from London, were arrested in April and bailed on the same day. They were suspected of publishing material which could stir up racial hatred, and were all believed to be associated with the North West Infidels, a splinter group with links to the far-right English Defence League.
But this week a police spokesman said: "Officers carried out a full and thorough investigation into posts made on social networking sites. Following liaison with the Crown Prosecution Service, it was decided that no further action should be taken."
North West Infidels' Manchester and Liverpool Facebook accounts are replete with conspiracy theories about Jews running the world, Zionist lobbies and links to antisemitic videos.
The Community Security Trust has criticised the lack of legal action taken against social media racism. A spokesperson said: "CST has consistently warned that modern social media must be seen to be subject to decent legal standards."