Facebook was accused of a “glaring failure” to implement advice on protecting children online after the conviction of a man for kidnapping, raping and murdering a teenager he ensnared using the social networking site.
Peter Chapman was jailed for life – with a minimum term of 35 years – yesterday for killing Ashleigh Hall, who was 17. The 33-year-old convicted double rapist lured Ashleigh by creating a Facebook profile using the picture of a handsome teenager. Ashleigh’s body was found dumped in a farmer’s field near Sedgefield, County Durham, in October last year.
The Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, criticised Facebook for not adding a panic button, created by the Home Office’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, to its site. Ceop says the button, a large graphic which once installed features prominently on each profile page and gives internet safety advice, should be added to all social networking websites. Its chief executive, Jim Gamble, said it was “beyond logic” that Facebook and MySpace have not joined.
Huhne told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Facebook has had access to this since 2006 and has not yet put it on its user sites and I think it should.”
Ceop says the button receives thousands of clicks a month. Facebook argues that users can block people from accessing their page or contacting them, or report abuse at its help centre. MySpace said it has “robust procedures” in place to protect young people on its site.
In a statement released today, Facebook said it had “a variety of measures people can use to protect themselves from unwanted contact and we strongly encourage their use”. It said it was “not clear how these two met” but it was “deeply saddened” by Ashleigh’s death.
“What is clear is that Peter Chapman was a twisted, determined individual with an evil agenda who used every online and offline opportunity to meet people,” it said. “This case serves as a painful reminder that all internet users must use extreme caution when contacted over the internet by people they do not know.
“We echo the advice of the police, who urge people not to meet anyone they have been contacted by online unless they know for certain who they are, as there are unscrupulous people in the world with malevolent agendas.”
Huhne also said people on the sex offenders register should have their internet activity monitored, although he admitted such a scheme would not be “infallible”, as individuals could use computers outside the home, such as in internet cafes.
The government plans to launch an advertising campaign on how to use the internet safely. Parents will be advised to keep computers in areas where they can monitor their use. Durham police’s chief superintendent, Andy Reddick, said Ashleigh Hall’s death should be a “wake-up call to parents and internet companies”.
