Police in Germany have raided residential properties in 14 of the country's 16 states in a coordinated investigation into hate speech online, the Federal Criminal Police Office in Wiesbaden said yesterday.

Officials are investigating 60 people in connection with posting offensive comments.

In one of the most prominent cases, members of a Facebook group in Bavaria glorified Nazi ideology for months, according to the southern state's Interior Ministry.

The focus is on the two administrators of the group, a 42-year-old man from the Ostallgaeu district and a 37-year-old from Nuremberg. According to the Federal Criminal Police, the nationwide searches are in part a reminder to people to use language responsibly on social media. The agency reminded people who spot hate speech online to report it to the police.