The Facebook profile of Steve Bakelmans (39), the man who murdered Julie Van Espen, was deleted by Facebook. After he confessed to the murder on Monday evening, people started posting comments and insults to his profile to express their anger.
His profile was almost completely public, and over 4,000 comments were posted to it. Some of them were: "Missed chance for abortion is what you are", "Slowly lower him into a barrel of corrosive acid", "Me, you, in one room and we will see how fierce you are then" and "The cops can just drop him off at my place...."
Many people wondered why Facebook did not take the profile offline. It showed photos of him and his (underage) son. "His child is not responsible for the abominable acts of his father," someone commented.
Facebook has clear rules for hate messages. "We do not allow hate speech on Facebook because it creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion and in some cases promotes offline violence," read the general guidelines.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
