Bligh hits out at 'sick' net sites

ANNA Bligh has called on Facebook to explain what it will do to block the "sickening" hijacking of internet memorials.

ANNA Bligh has called on Facebook to explain what it will do to block the "sickening" hijacking of internet memorials after web vigilantes set up hate sites against the accused killer of Queensland girl Trinity Bates.

The Premier's demand, issued in a letter yesterday to Facebook's US-based boss Mark Zuckerberg, came as Bundaberg man Allyn John Slater appeared in a local court charged with eight-year-old Trinity's murder.

Queensland police were monitoring chat groups on Facebook vilifying Mr Slater, 19, who was said in posts to have been a Facebook "friend" of the girl's parents.

One group had 3900 members last night.

Ms Bligh told the Facebook chief executive that the posting of pornography and other obscene images and messages on tribute sites for Trinity and 12-year-old Elliott Fletcher, who was killed in a schoolyard stabbing in Brisbane last week, had compounded the grief over their deaths.

"Police continue to investigate these cases," Ms Bligh wrote.

"But within the Queensland community, there are growing calls for a broader debate on the challenges posed by the new media.

"We need to try to do everything we can to prevent this happening in the future.

"And on this front, I seek your advice on what action Facebook intends to take to prevent a recurrence of these types of sickening incidents."

Facebook has refused to meet The Australian's requests to make available an executive to answer criticism of its site security, instead releasing and reissuing an emailed statement by its US-based director of communications and public policy, Debbie Frost.

Ms Frost was interviewed on ABC local radio in Queensland yesterday, and said the company was helping the police with their investigation of the cyber attacks.

Defending Facebook's monitoring systems, she said users could draw attention to offensive content by clicking on a "report" button beneath any post on the social networking site.

"You can ban and block people who behave badly," she said.

But Ms Bligh pointed out in her letter to Mr Zuckerberg, care of the Facebook HQ in California, that the purpose of Facebook tribute pages had been corrupted by the cyber attacks, adding "to the grief already being experienced" by local communities.

"And it is something no parent should have to deal with when coming to terms with the loss of their child," she wrote.

Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has told The Australian Facebook owed the community an explanation of what went wrong with its site security, and how it planned to prevent acts of cyber vandalism.

Facebook's Sydney public relations agent said yesterday Ms Frost was not available for further interviews, "so unfortunately isn't available to speak to you".

"We also have no further commentary to provide you with," the PR agent said.