German authorities have carried out raids across the country and questioned more than 100 suspects as part of an investigation into hate messages against politicians linked to last year's national elections, prosecutors said.

The Frankfurt prosecutor's office and the Federal Criminal Police Office said the searches were carried out as a result of an analysis of more than 600 social media posts for criminal content. The investigation was based on a law passed last year that provides severe penalties for defamation and insults to people in political life, whether at the local, state or federal level.

It provides for punishment of up to three years in prison for abuse of a person based on his position in public life, capable of significantly hindering his public activities.

Prosecutors did not name the purpose of the posts resulting from the raids, but said the investigation involved posts against politicians from all parties currently in Germany's national parliament, and two-thirds of them were women. They included insults against well-known politicians in the country, as well as fake quotes that seemed intended to discredit their goals.

The move clarifies the extent of insults, defamation and threats against officials on the Internet, said Torsten Kunze, chief prosecutor for the central state of Hesse in Germany.