Looks like David Cameron might be retracting Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg’s invitation to ‘pop in’ next time he’s in town. Facebook has refused to remove a page named “R.I.P RAOUL MOAT YOU LEGEND!”, because the site wants to promote free speech and discussion.
Facebook refused calls from David Cameron to remove the site “on the grounds the site encourages public debate about issues in the media”. However, take one look at the page, and it seems it is being used largely as a place to exchange abusive notes, including directionless racist slurs, and anti-police sentiments.
Cameron said in Parliament that there should be no sympathy for Moat, only for his victims. The Facebook page has also spawned reactionary pages, including one which calls for the fan page to be taken down, and a page called “I think the police shot Raoul Moat”.
It’s not the first time Facebook has neglected to intervene to moderate content on its own site, having refused in the past to remove pages that were offensive or radical. In January this year Facebook refused to remove a page that promotes violence against cyclists including detailing various attacks, such as dooring, as ways to injure cyclists.
