Hawzah News Agency (Berlin, Germany)-  AfD deputy leader Beatrix von Storch had said in a New Year tweet that Cologne police was appeasing "barbaric, gang-raping Muslim hordes of men" by tweeting a New Year message in Arabic.

Police had posted the message in other languages, including English, French, and German, as well.

Twitter blocked Von Storch's account on Monday for 12 hours, as her post violated the site's regulations. Facebook, too, temporarily blocked her.

Germany has enacted a law that obliges social media companies, including Facebook and Google, to remove hate speech and other illegal content within 24 hours of receiving a notification, or face fines of up to €50 million ($60 million).

The far-right MP could be charged with the criminal offense of incitement to hatred.

In June, Von Storch, the granddaughter of Adolf Hitler's finance minister, answered "yes" to a question on Facebook asking whether weapons should be used against women and children trying to enter Germany illegally. She later said that her hand had slipped off the mouse and that the answer had been selected accidentally.

Germany, under Chancellor Angela Merkel, initially adopted an open-door policy toward refugees when they began traveling to Europe some two years ago. But the German government later restricted the intake of refugees under pressure from far-right groups.

That pressure gained momentum in 2016, when almost 100 women said they had been sexually assaulted or robbed by a gang of men near Cologne’s main train station during New Year’s Eve festivities. Police said the suspects had been largely of North African origin and most had recently migrated to Germany.

Muslims make up nearly five percent of the total population of Germany.