"We have removed a series of false and duplicated accounts which violated our authenticity policy, as well as several pages due to violation of rules on name changing," a spokesman for Facebook in Italy said in an emailed statement.

The attack has prompted outrage in Italy and put the spotlight on suspected links between extreme right-wing politicians and organized crime in a notoriously unruly seaside suburb of Rome.

Matteo Renzi has been summoned to Italy's presidential palace, where the 39-year-old mayor of Florence is expected to be asked Monday to form a new government.