Pike River: Mayor slams 'gutless' messages

The last thing Pike River families need. Photo / Mark Mitchell

An internet memorial to the 29 lost Pike River miners has been defaced with offensive messages and images.

Gruesome and pornographic photos were posted to a miners tribute page by a series of Facebook users on Thursday and Friday.

Messages were also posted saying the tragedy was funny and that people did not care about the deaths of the miners.

Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn says the posts are "gutless" and need to be removed.

"This is the lowest thing anybody can do. I'm appealing to these people to stop and have some respect.

"Put yourself in the position of these families who are heartbroken. It could be your brother, your sister, your father.

"The world has got in behind these loved ones. The last thing they need is to view this website."

The abuse has also been met with swift condemnation by other people posting on the page, who called the users "scumbags" and said they can "go to hell".

An Office of Film and Literature Classification spokeswoman says it is likely many of the images on the memorial page would be censored if the office received complaints about them.

It is more difficult to take down the page itself or the comments posted on it, she says.

She is encouraging people to submit complaints directly through www.censorship.govt.nz or complain to Facebook directly.

"It's a tragic situation and this is just a horrible side issue.

"These kinds of images are quite likely to objectionable from the enforcement end of it."

Police and the Department of Internal Affairs can decide to press charges if they decide the images are illegal, she says.

A New Zealand police spokeswoman says there is little that can be done if the posts come from an overseas source.

They would have to collaborate with overseas police to get them removed, she says.

Offensive material was also posted on the memorial pages of dead Australian teenagers Chantelle Rowe, 16, and Cameron Lowe, 17, earlier this month.

Ms Rowe died in a triple murder and Mr Lowe was punched and later died.

Their tribute pages were defaced with doctored images and the offensive messages.

It is thought the offensive posts are made by an international online group, often referred to as internet "trolls".

A Youtube video posted by the group, which depicted them defacing memorial pages, has been taken down.