German investigators have carried out searches in 11 federal states against the authors of misogynistic and potentially criminal postings on the internet.
A total of 45 suspects are being questioned and their homes searched, in an operation that began at 6 am (050 GMT) on Thursday, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said. Additional measures were taken against 37 suspects.
The Central Office for Combating Cybercrime (ZIT) in Frankfurt, the BKA and other state-level law enforcement agencies were involved in the operation.
The searches are part of a police drive to combat misogyny on the internet and analyse the scope and potential criminality of such postings, including possible links to extremism.
The BKA specifically searched for posts containing digital hate crime against women on online platforms and passed any relevant information on the state secirity forces.
The project is based on a judgment by the Cologne Higher Regional Court, which ruled that generalized slurs against women can be punishable as incitement to hatred.
The various manifestations of misogyny on the internet identified by the ZIT and BKA included postings in which women were slandered and insulted in a sexualized manner or publicly encouraged to send nude photos.
The authorities also discovered postings advocating rape or sexual assault, and where torture and murder videos were publicly disseminated.
