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| Steve Rotherham MP meets Facebook over 'trolls' | |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| A Merseyside MP has met representatives from Facebook about "trolling" after offensive messages were left on a tribute site to a Wirral teenager who died in an accident. | |
| Steve Rotherham, Labour MP for Liverpool Walton, said he would consider a private members bill if there were gaps in current laws. | |
| Georgia Varley, 16, died after falling under a train in Liverpool in October. | Georgia Varley, 16, died after falling under a train in Liverpool in October. |
| A Facebook tribute page was removed after a series of insults were posted. | A Facebook tribute page was removed after a series of insults were posted. |
| The MP said: "It was a very positive meeting, it raised a lot more questions and we are going to have further discussions. | |
| "I have been invited to Facebook's International Headquarters in Dublin for a meeting with senior people." | |
| Earlier Mr Rotherham said: "I'm trying to see if there are any gaps in legislation. | |
| "The meeting with Facebook is part of a fact finding mission for myself, to find out when they are informed of these sort of things what they do and how quickly they can take these things down. | "The meeting with Facebook is part of a fact finding mission for myself, to find out when they are informed of these sort of things what they do and how quickly they can take these things down. |
| "I don't want us to sit back and say there's nothing we can do. | "I don't want us to sit back and say there's nothing we can do. |
| "The idea is to discover where the gaps are and if I can add to legislation, perhaps with a private members bill, but it would need all-party support." | |
| 'Act swiftly' | 'Act swiftly' |
| Mr Rotherham also plans to meet representatives from Twitter. | Mr Rotherham also plans to meet representatives from Twitter. |
| A spokesperson for Facebook said it was against the site's rules "to intimidate or harass others" and the site would "react swiftly" to disable accounts found in breach of their terms. | A spokesperson for Facebook said it was against the site's rules "to intimidate or harass others" and the site would "react swiftly" to disable accounts found in breach of their terms. |
| He said: "We strongly encourage people using Facebook to use our tools whenever needed and to report objectionable content so we can investigate reports and take action." | He said: "We strongly encourage people using Facebook to use our tools whenever needed and to report objectionable content so we can investigate reports and take action." |
| Ms Varley, from Wallasey, died after falling between a carriage and platform at James Street station in Liverpool. | Ms Varley, from Wallasey, died after falling between a carriage and platform at James Street station in Liverpool. |
| Police believe she had been running to catch a train home that had friends and family on board. | Police believe she had been running to catch a train home that had friends and family on board. |
| Following the postings on the Facebook tribute page Ms Varley's friends set up a new page and administrators blocked some of the offenders. |