Facebook named as online firm who failed to pass on details of plans for Lee Rigby murder

SOLDIER Lee Rigby could have been saved from one of Britain’s most horrific terror attacks if Facebook had alerted the authorities to the “graphic” fantasies of one of his killers, it was claimed last night.

Lee Rigby was savagely attacked in broad daylight by Muslim converts Adebolajo and Adebowale near Woolwich Barracks in south east London, in May last PA

Lee Rigby was savagely attacked in broad daylight by Muslim converts Adebolajo and Adebowale

A report into the actions of British security services in the lead-up to the murder warned that web companies are unintentionally creating a “safe haven for terrorists”.

The dossier by a parliamentary watchdog did not name Facebook – but it emerged the US firm is at the centre of claims it did not pass on “highly significant” data about a plot to kill a soldier in a “graphic and emotive manner”.

David Cameron called on web firms to stop terrorists using networks for “murder and mayhem”.

The report also detailed errors by security services in the run-up to the murder in Woolwich, south London, of Fusilier Rigby, 25, by British-born Islamic converts Michael Adebolajo, then 28, and Michael Adebowale, then 22.

Adebolajo and Adebowale were 29 and 22-years-old respectively when they were sentenced PA

Adebolajo and Adebowale were 29 and 22-years-old respectively when they were sentenced

Given what the agencies knew at the time, they were not in a position to prevent the murder of Fusilier Rigby

Intelligence and Security Committee report

The killers had been the target of seven investigations, according to the findings of the Intelligence and Security Committee.

Surveillance of Adebolajo was stopped in April last year – a month before the attack.

But the 192-page ISC report concluded: “Given what the agencies knew at the time, they were not in a position to prevent the murder of Fusilier Rigby.”

Six months before the attack, Adebowale wrote online to an extremist with links to Al Qaeda about his wish to kill a British soldier. His account was shut down.

ISC chairman Sir Malcolm Rifkind said: “Adebowale expressed his intent to murder a soldier in the most graphic and emotive manner. Had MI5 had access to this exchange at the time, there is then a significant possibility that MI5 would have been able to prevent the attack.”

But Mr Rifkind added: “This company [Adebowale’s US internet service provider] does not regard themselves as under any obligation to ensure they identify such threats, or to report them to the authorities. We find this unacceptable. However unintentionally, they are providing a safe haven for terrorists.”

A Facebook spokesman said: “We don’t comment on individual cases but...we do not allow terrorist content on the site and take steps to prevent people from using our service for these purposes.”

The Prime Minister responded to the report by allocating MI5, MI6 and GCHQ “an additional £130million on top of their £2billion a year budget.

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