Retrieving A Paedophile's Deleted Facebook Messages

[emma_llew]

There is an ongoing case in my family regarding two paedophiles in our town. The police have told us that facebook is refusing to give them access to the deleted messages. Apparently they won't even do it regarding terrorism. Is this correct, and if so, how? We have proof of the men exploiting children, it's not just hearsay. The men have deleted the most incriminating messages. Surely a case such as this is so serious that facebook needs to give access. Or the men will get away with it.

[Islay]

If they have done as you have claimed the police would seek more evidence than just a few messages from facebook.

[Toorak]

You might be able to get clarification of the position from ceops

https://ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/

[Old_Geezer]

I'd doubt Facebook was the only, or even held vital evidence. These sites have a duty to their users and would flounder if not trusted. If such messages exist then surely the complainant who saw them would have saved the image ? The law can be used to try to get these deleted messages, if they still exist, but it would be a precedent to simply hand over whatever authorities demand. Let the police use existing law to get access. It's what they uphold.

[Buenchico]

Facebook quite correctly require a court order, rather than just a request from the police, before handing over information which is protected by both UK and US privacy laws. Given that Facebook is a US-based company, they'd probably require an order from an American court before they were able to do so.

[emma_llew]

The exploiting was done via facebook and Kik. I'm the person who got the evidence for the police to arrest the men. The police had their phones and laptops sent off for analysis (to retrieve texts messages etc) but they said the men had deleted everything. The evidence I got was from the victim's phone and the most incriminating stuff was all deleted.

[Islay]

Depending on how you got the evidence is may not be usable

[emma_llew]

The police are using the evidence I got. That's how they had reason for arrest and they've assured me it is very valuable.

[Islay]

You also need to be careful about giving out information about an ongoing investigation as it may go against the police at a later date!

[Peter Pedant]

https://en-gb.facebook.com/safety/groups/law/guidelines/

it seems you need a fed warrant

I dont really understand how deleted messages can be known to be incriminating - and if so why they werent copied in real time.
if they are deleted and may be incriminating
it may just be a fishing expedition ......