Lee Rigby family: Facebook has 'blood on its hands'

Stepfather Ian Rigby said the social network had 'failed us all' by neglecting to raise the alarm when the site was used to plan the attack.

14:57 26 November 2014

Lee Rigby’s family have blamed Facebook for his murder with his stepfather saying that the social network giant had “failed us all” by neglecting to raise the alarm.  

 

Based on the report by the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), the murder of Fusilier Rigby in Woolwich could have been prevented if only Facebook took the step of alerting the authorities when the site was used to plot the attack. 

 

In December 2012, Michael Adebowale had a conversation with an Al Qaeda with the former telling the latter “Let’s kill a soldier.” He reportedly wrote in a series of “graphic and emotive” messages to the Yemen jihadist, where they also discussed a choice of weapons and the challenges of being a “martyr.” 

 

Because of this Fusilier Rigby's sister, Sara McClure, said: “Facebook have my brother's blood on their hands.

 

"I hold them partly responsible for Lee's murder."

 

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the head of the parliamentary watchdog, said that Facebok could have made a difference by reporting the conversation and there was "a significant possibility that MI5 would have been able to prevent the attack" as it would have made Adebowale "a top priority".