Facebook page showing schoolgirl images taken down

A Facebook page that collected and published pictures of girls in school uniforms, including some from Northern Ireland schools, has been taken down.

Concerns were raised about the page called "The Best School Girls", which said it was for "sharing photos of pretty girls".

The images were lifted from the private social media pages without permission.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said it had received three reports in relation to the page.

It said that because the photos were already open to the public and did not involve nudity, no criminal offence had been found but that "the nature of the page is still under investigation".

One young woman, whose picture was posted on the page, told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster programme it was "disgusting" that a picture of her in uniform had been "made into a sexually gratifying thing".

Sophia Armstrong from County Down said a friend had sent her a screenshot of the site and when she looked at it, she discovered one of her photographs was on it.

"To be honest it felt horrific, it was pretty disgusting," she added.

Meta, which owns Facebook, said it has removed the page for violating its policies.

Exposed

A mother of another schoolgirl told Belfast Live that comments below some of the photographs were "vile".

Ms Armstrong, who is 19 years old, said when she reported the matter to the police she was told there was nothing criminally wrong with the account because the images were already in the public domain.

"Whenever they're posted on your account you have control over what's happening with the photograph, whereas this account was making these photos into some sexually wild thing," said Ms Armstrong.

"There was absolutely nothing sexual about it

"And having people comment underneath, you almost felt exposed for something you hadn't done at all."

Meta, the owners of Facebook, said it removed the page for violating its policies

Ms Armstrong said she was told to change the privacy settings of her Facebook account but felt that she "shouldn't be the one having to change my life in order to stop accounts like this being created".

She said that when a number of people are saying they are really uncomfortable, especially those underage, something should be done such as "new legislation enabling the police to be able to do their job on social media".

"It is really scary to think how much people can get away with before they have actually committed a crime," she added.

"I'm second guessing every photo I'm putting up. I shouldn't have to do that."

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Jim Gamble, a former senior police officer and the chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Centre, said he would have concerns about the way the images were being used.

"While there may not be a criminal offence per se in capturing images that are public, when you bring them together and host them in a way that this is being done, I think it's reasonable to infer that there may be a sexual connotation with that," he said.

Jim Gamble said both the creator of the site and those commenting should be of interest to the police

"Now there may not be, but why host pictures of schoolgirls in that way?

"If someone is placing innocent schoolgirl images into an environment where they are ultimately being sexualised then you've got to look at what is motivating them.

"That's a job for the police."

He added that those making comments on younger people's images should also be of interest to the police.

'Policing social media is complex'

The PSNI said it had received three reports about the page.

"The reports made to the police to date have been investigated and the images were found to have been posted by the page in question and taken from accounts already in the public domain," it said.

"Policing social media is complex and there are definitions of what constitutes a criminal offence in these online spaces.

"Offences online may include, pictures that show nudity of children or indecent images of children, threats to kill, threats to cause damage, criminal conduct amounting to harassment and comments that incite racial hatred, violence or rioting.

"As the photos investigated by the police to date were already open to the public and showed no nudity, no criminal offence was found.

"However, the nature of this page is still under investigation and will remain open.

"Police will continue to investigate and encourage anyone who is aware of images or commentary on this page that would constitute a criminal offence to come forward and report."

Meta said it removes profiles, pages and groups that are dedicated to sharing otherwise illicit images of children with captions, hashtags or comments that contain inappropriate signs of affection or commentary.