The Star: July 13, 2017

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
Thursday July 13 2017 15
News
Cops Facebook page: Be nice
• By Bridget Rutherford
CANTERBURY Police have
issued a warning to its Facebook
followers saying bullying will
not be tolerated and any such
comments will be deleted.
It comes after complaints police
Facebook pages had become
hubs for bullying and trolling,
sparking calls for better moderation.
Last week, Canterbury Police
wrote on its Facebook page that
it would not tolerate bullying,
abuse, harassment or trolling on
the page.
“If you do post comments like
this they will be deleted – and
you may be blocked if you do it
repeatedly,” the post said.
The post was well received,
with many commending police
for issuing the warning.
Senior Sergeant Stewart Munro
said, given the large number
of comments across all police
pages, it was not always possible
to monitor and moderate every
post.
He said the police public
affairs team helped moderate
them and hide anything racist,
sexist or discriminatory. There
was also a moderation filter. But
big 6Kg
DRYER
WARNING: Canterbury Police have reminded people bullying
comments on its Facebook page will not be tolerated. ​
it did not hide all negative comments,
he said.
“We do look out for negative
comments and, while Canterbury
Police has not noticed a
recent increase, we recently
issued a reminder that people be
respectful in their comments.”
WEKA PASS RAILWAY
Police use the Facebook page
to get information relating to an
inquiry, or as a way of tracking
people down who are wanted for
arrest or are reported missing.
While some comments were
helpful, others turned nasty.
One comment said police
should “try Eastgate KFC” to
find a woman who had warrants
out for arrest, another described
a man as appearing “straight
from the Planet of the Apes
movie”. Another comment said
one man showed a resemblance
to Voldemort.
Another man whose photo
was posted on the page drew
a wave of comments and puns
relating to his left ear, because
half of it had been removed
somehow.
“He’s going to get an ear full
when his mother finds out about
this,’’ one comment said.
Canterbury University associate
professor and social media
expert, Ekant Veer, said it was
great police had deemed the
behaviour unacceptable.
Hopefully people would see
the page was not there for public
humiliation, he said.
“It’s not new, by any means –
we used to have public floggings
and criminals put in stocks so
people can throw rotten food at
them. This is the modern day
equivalent.”
But Dr Veer said he worried
having more moderation could
take up too much police time
and resource.
Police use wit
against trolls
IN SPITE of many using the
Canterbury Police Facebook
page to make bullying remarks,
at times it can also be a place
for police to show their sense of
humour.
On Friday, police posted a photo
of a booze bus, saying officers
would be out and about ensuring
people did not drink and drive.
One man commented: “What
streets will you be setting up on
in case people want to stop by and
say gidday?”
Canterbury Police responded:
“We’ll be starting at Nicetry Street
and then we’ll be moving to Betterlucknexttime
Avenue. Hope to
see you there!”
In 2014, Samuel Lake went viral
when he taunted Canterbury
Police under his own wanted
mugshot on its Facebook page.
Lake’s comment said: “I need to
get a new mugshot.”
Police responded: “Come see us
and will arrange at no cost”.
In June, police posted a photo
of vintage-looking skis which
had been recovered in the hope of
returning them to their owner.
“Think Ernest Shackleton may
have lost them on his mission to
the South Pole,” one cheeky poster
said.
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