PM considers online ombudsman

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd says he will look into the idea of appointing an online ombudsman after Facebook tribute pages were defaced with pornography and offensive comments.

Pages set up to honour slain Queensland children Trinity Bates and Elliott Fletcher have been defaced in the past fortnight.

Illegal material, such as child pornography and bestiality, was posted on the sites, as well as comments about the alleged killers.

A Year 12 student from Brisbane's Marist College in Ashgrove has been suspended for setting up a Facebook page saying it will hand over Daniel Morcombe, a Queensland teenager who has been missing since 2003, if the page attracts one million members.

Five other students from the college have been disciplined over sexually offensive material on a Facebook group dedicated to a female teacher. The incident has been referred to police.

And 20 students from Springwood State High School in Brisbane have been suspended for bullying a staff member on Facebook.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon has proposed the appointment of an online ombudsman to deal with such incidents.

"Specifically on Nick's idea, let's look at it," Mr Rudd told the Seven Network on Friday.

"The role of cyber crime and internet bullying on children is frankly frightening and we need to be deploying all practical measures."

Facebook plans to apologise over the offensive postings.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh wrote to the web company expressing her concern over the online vandalism.

Facebook global communications and policy director Debbie Frost said the company was sorry for the incidents, but admitted it was nearly impossible to deal with the cruel behaviour of individuals.

"This is an absolutely tragic case ... I have worked here two years and have never seen anything like this," Ms Frost said.

"I just can't believe that people have no moral compass, that they would do this."

A Queensland police task force, which helped jail 22 international child abusers in 2008, has begun investigating the Facebook postings.

There are also concerns some of the postings could constitute defamation or be sub judice.

Ms Bligh told the Queensland parliament on Thursday she was not advocating censorship of the internet.

"I am in no way suggesting that the operators of Facebook should be subject to vetting by an outside enforcement agency on a regular basis. However, I think that common decency ... should prevail," she said.