Number 10 plays down Facebook’s refusal over Moat tribute
Thursday 15th July 2010, 1:45PM BST.
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Downing Street sought today to play down the refusal of Facebook to take down a webpage set up in tribute to gunman Raoul Moat, despite a call to do so by the Prime Minister.
David Cameron said in the Commons yesterday that he could not understand the sympathy being expressed for Moat, whom he branded a “callous murderer”.
Pressed by one Conservative MP to ask Facebook to take down the webpage of the Raoul Moat RIP group, the Prime Minister said that he had made a “very good point”.
But after a No 10 official telephoned the social networking site to raise Mr Cameron’s concerns, Facebook put out a statement last night making clear it had no intention of removing the webpage.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman insisted today that it was not the purpose of the call to get the webpage taken down.
“We were not trying to instruct them to do anything,” the spokesman said. “The purpose was to draw their attention to the Prime Minister’s comments.”
The controversy over Facebook blew up just days after Mr Cameron praised the website for its role in promoting debate about public sector reform.
A YouTube video posted by No 10 last week showed the Prime Minister chatting with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
In its statement Facebook said it was “a place where people can express their views and discuss things in an open way” even if others find the topic distasteful.
Today Home Secretary Theresa May told the Commons Home Affairs Committee: “There does appear to be rather a lot of focus on that individual rather than on the victims of his crime. Our thoughts and our concerns should be about the victims of the crime and I think we should be absolutely clear about the nature of the individual.”
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