Facebook in dock over identifying prison staff

FACEBOOK and the Ministry of Justice have been urged to act over social media posts by inmates in jails that identify prison officers and show violent threats, bullying and drug use.

Videos apparently posted from behind bars include a prisoner eating cockroaches in return for the drug ‘spice’. Other clips feature violence against drug users known as ‘ketheads’ or ‘smackheads’. An Instagram page shows a bare-chested prisoner brandishing an improvised knife.

One post on a Facebook page with 15,000 followers calls on people to ‘name and shame’ the worst prison officer they met while in jail. Dozens of comments below identify prison staff.

Mark Fairhurst, of the prison officers’ union, said smuggled mobile phones cause ‘misery, violence and deaths’ across UK jails. He said Facebook, which owns Instagram, should take responsibility.

A Facebook spokesman said: ‘We have well-established processes with law enforcement and the Ministry of Justice to help us tackle this kind of activity.’