Facebook warns against online vigilantism

Facebook’s head of safety, a former FBI agent, has warned people against operating as “undercover” investigators online.

“People in the public should not do undercover investigations and we hear that a lot... it really can cause some problems with the prosecution of that case, the collection of evidence,” Emily Vacher told the Irish Examiner.

She was asked about instances of the public acting as vigilantes to track down paedophiles, such as the case with Kieran Creaven, who pleaded guilty to sex offences in an English court in March after engaging with Predator Exposure thinking he was communicating with a 13-year-old girl.