THE people behind Facebook have expressed their sadness at the circumstances surrounding Ashleigh Hall’s death.

Peter Chapman used Facebook – and other social networking websites – to lure Ashleigh to her death by convincing her he was a teenager.

A statement issued by Facebook last night said: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Ashleigh Hall.

“While it is not clear how these two met, what is clear is that Peter Chapman was a twisted, determined individual with an evil agenda, who used every online and offline opportunity to meet people.”

The statement also stressed the importance of internet safety, adding: “This case serves as a painful reminder that all internet users must use extreme caution when contacted over the internet by people they do not know.

“We echo the advice of the police, who urge people not to meet anyone they have been contacted by online unless they know for certain who they are, as there are unscrupulous people in the world with malevolent agendas.”

The website highlighted measures it includes to protect themselves from unwanted contact.

The statement said: “Nothing is more important to Facebook than the safety of the people who use our site.”

Controls for users to protect themselves include extensive privacy settings allowing restricted access to information and the ability of users to block people from seeing their profile, finding them in search, or contacting them in any way. It stressed the importance of maintaining a “real name culture” adding: “It’s a violation of our policies to use a fake name or operate under a false identity.

“We encourage people to report anyone they think is doing this, either through the report links we provide on the site or through the contact forms in our Help Centre.”

Facebook says it has systems to prioritise the most serious reports and a trained team of reviewers who report them to police as needed.