Rotorua had a Facebook page naming shoplifters

SHOP owners and managers in a New Zealand city, popular with tourists, flooded a site set up to name and shame shoplifters with pictures.

A FACEBOOK page was set up to name and shame shoplifters with personal pictures and details in a city popular with tourists.

Shop owners and managers in Rotorua, a tourist attraction in New Zealand's north island, were encouraged to send details and pictures of people stealing to the administrator of Rotorua Shoplifters on Facebook, Rotorua Daily Post reported. The accused's Facebook pictures were then posted.

Within four hours of going online it had attracted more than 310 "likes". Posts of people the page claimed were thieves attracted many comments, even from those being named and shamed.

One woman accused admitted to shoplifting when she saw her photo but defended herself by saying it happened when she was a primary school student - and she was now in her 20s.

According to the "about" section of the page it claimed it was created to help Rotorua retailers identify shoplifters who had been caught stealing from various Rotorua and Bay of Plenty shops.

The page warned "Don't STEAL if you don't want to be NAMED and SHAMED".

It was taken down. Netsafe chief technical officer Sean Lyons said the page could breach a person's rights to privacy and freedom of speech, adding anyone who was accused of shoplifting but hadn't actually been convicted would have had their human rights breached.