We have been too slow to help over Lucy murder, says Facebook boss
A FACEBOOK chief has admitted the company is too slow at handing over information to police, blaming US laws.
The social media giant is hampered by outdated legislation which makes it unable to release information quickly, its head of safety said.
The admission comes after the murder of Lucy McHugh, 13, last month – when Facebook was criticised for failing to provide vital information about a key suspect in the case.
The Southampton schoolgirl’s mother Stacey White accused the company of denying her daughter justice after police were forced to apply to US judges to see activity on suspect Stephen Nicholson’s account.
She said it was ‘easy’ for Facebook to release his password to detectives. Yesterday Antigone Davis, Global Head of Safety at Facebook, said that slow US laws were in need of reform.
Miss Davis, who spent years working for the US Attorney General before joining the platform, told the Mail: ‘I, and we share the frustration that this legal process can take time, which is why we are working out legal reforms which would avoid these delays.’
Miss Davis, who has a 21-yearold daughter, said: ‘First of all obviously my heart goes out to the family of Lucy.
‘I think it is really important people know we are working with the authorities, there is a process by which the police can get the information that they are looking for.’
Miss Davis said the lengthy process was in place to ‘protect the privacy of people on the platform’.
In a cruel twist, had the police been alerted to suspicious interactions on Facebook before Lucy was stabbed to death, the site would have been able to rapidly provide information from the page.
Miss Davis, who is based in Washington DC, said: ‘We are co-operating and working with law enforcement and the other thing to note is when someone is in imminent harm we also work directly with authorities to quickly get that information.’
In the wake of Lucy’s case, British MPs accused the site of being a ‘haven for criminals’ and branded the delays ‘deeply disturbing’.
Nicholson refused to hand over passwords for his social media accounts to detectives and was jailed for 14 months.
Lucy’s mother told the Mail: ‘Facebook is like a fire that spreads through a forest, it doesn’t know how much damage it has caused. I will only rest when I have justice for Lucy.’ Police in Britain asking for information from Facebook must fill out a mutual legal assistance treaty request before applying for a US court order to compel Facebook to co-operate.
The treaty process can take up to six months, but Facebook is lobbying the US government for change.
Former teacher Miss Davis, who is in charge of making the platform a safer place for children, admitted it might be time for Facebook to be given a rule book by government.
She said: ‘We certainly are interested in co-operating with government to determine what is the best regulation in this area.’
But she ruled out plans for Facebook to introduce ID checks to keep under-13s off the site.
While saying Facebook will try to keep young children off the site, Miss Davis added: ‘It would be hard to ask a global platform for people to provide some kind of age ID.
‘In many parts of the world, IDs don’t actually have age attached to them that would be a barrier to participating in the platform.’
The comments come as draft documents of plans to police social media giants emerged yesterday.
In leaked proposals, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said it would create an independent web regulator.
This would require companies like Facebook and Twitter to carry out appropriate age verification, rather than allow users to tick a box.
Miss Davis said Facebook was asking itself these questions as it today publishes a report with think tank Demos which reveals young people regard the site as a powerful campaigning tool. Nearly 64 per cent of those aged 16 to 25 said they regard social media as an essential part of achieving change.