Facebook moderators refused to remove illegal posts allegedly revealing Jon Venables’ identity – forcing company chiefs to step in
The social media giant has been blasted for ignoring British law after its moderators refused to remove posts claiming to reveal the identity and whereabouts of James Bulger's killer
FACEBOOK has finally removed illegal posts that allegedly reveal Jon Venables' new identity - despite site moderators initially claiming they did not violate "community standards".
Venables and Robert Thompson, both 35, were granted lifelong anonymity after their release in 2001 for the murder of two-year-old James Bulger - who would have turned 28 today.
A Sun Online investigation found up-to-date photos alleging to be the jailed pervert on the social media site - and other posts claiming to reveal his name and prison location.
Some of the posts were shared tens of thousands of times, sparking fears that cops could be forced to hand the tot killer a new identity again - at an estimated £1million cost to taxpayers.
The tech giant's moderators initially refused to remove the posts after we alerted them at the beginning of the week while using the standard complaints procedure available to all its users.
We reported 12 posts to Facebook and the social media firm sent responses to 10 of these complaints, each time claiming that they did not breach the site's guidelines.
A community moderator wrote the same message for the 10 posts.
They said: "Thank you for letting us know about this. We've looked at the photo, and although it doesn't go against any of our specific Community Standards, you did the right thing by letting us know about it."
And the website simply ignored the other two complaints made.
But after The Sun Online approached Facebook chiefs to inform that they were breaching the law, the tech giant panicked and removed all the posts within 12 hours.
Venables was caged for 40 months in February for possessing 1,170 horrific indecent child abuse images and a 20-page paedophile manual.
It is the second time the child killer has been busted for hoarding child abuse images.
He was moved to a new jail after his identity was exposed by lags and a fellow prisoner threw boiling water in his face.
The child killer is now reportedly demanding taxpayers pay for plastic surgery to protect him.
This is yet another occasion of Facebook sticking two fingers up to the rule of law
Tim Loughton
Politicians last night rounded on the social media firm for initially disregarding British law - and for not acting until forced.
Chairwoman of the influential Home Affairs Select Committee, Yvette Cooper told The Sun Online: “Facebook isn’t above the law. If newspapers are bound by rulings from the British courts then social media companies should be too.”
Tory MP and fellow member of the Home Affairs Select Committee Tim Loughton added: "Notwithstanding the crimes Venables has committed, he still has anonymity in the eyes of the Law.
"This is yet another occasion of Facebook sticking two fingers up to the rule of law and refusing to acknowledge their corporate responsibility."
Our investigation comes just days after it was revealed Shameless TV star Tina Malone, 55, could face a police probe after she re-tweeted a photo alleging to be Venables on Twitter.
Anyone found guilty of breaching the anonymity ban faces a two-year prison sentence and an unlimited fine.
James Bulger's family have called on Venables to lose his right to anonymity after his latest offence to protect children.
The tot's dad Ralph Bulger told the Daily Star Sunday: "We've got to watch this sexual deviant. We know what he's capable of. He's just waiting for another victim.
"Let's make sure there's no more."
James' mum Denise Fergus yesterday said she was "happy" that MPs will debate Venables' release after 211,000 people signed a petition calling for a public inquiry into the pervert's handling by authorities.
The petition stated: "Throughout the conduct of the case there have been a number of issues that have been swept under the carpet. It's high time they were investigated.
"One mystery surrounding the murder of James Bulger case is why the 'experts' insisted that Jon Venables was rehabilitated."
A petitions committee spokeswoman said: "The Petitions Committee has decided that there will be a debate on this petition.
"We don’t know yet when the debate will happen, because there’s an active legal case that’s relevant to the petition.
"Parliament avoids talking about cases that are active in the UK courts because that could interfere with the legal process. We’ll announce a date for the debate as soon as we can."
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Venables and pal Thompson were both 10 when they tortured and killed the tot after abducting him from a shopping centre in Liverpool in 1993.
The pair were released on licence after serving eight years.
The Taxpayers' Alliance campaign manager James Price added: "The authorities need to keep such information extremely closely guarded so no more money is wasted protecting such a deeply unpleasant person at a time when savings have to be made across the public sector."
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