In the Media

Police hunt Facebook trolls who mocked Hillsborough football disaster

PUBLISHED May 7, 2012
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A group on the social networking site featured comments from internet "trolls" mocking the 96 Liverpool FC fans who died at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final tragedy.

The page was online for more than a week and was even 'liked' 125 times but Facebook administrators have now removed the offensive group after receiving complaints.

One graphic photo was posted on the page and showed a group of frightened Liverpool FC supporters pinned up against the Leppings Lane fences.

The causes of the crush has been the subject to controversy but many blame a flawed design of that stand which did not allow fans to escape overcrowding.

Along with the complaints made by Facebook users, Merseyside Police had also urged the media giant to erase the page.

A Merseyside Police spokesperson said: " We can confirm that we received several complaints from members of the public about comments made on Facebook about the Hillsborough tragedy.

"Detectives from the Force's hi-tech crime unit and CID are investigating to see if any offence has been committed and if any potential offenders can be identified.

"We liased with Facebook to see if the offensive comments can be removed."

A Facebook spokesperson said: "Although we don't comment on specific reasons we can confirm that the page was removed because it violated Facebook's statement of rights and responsibilities."

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