THE Australian Lawyers Alliance has slammed a Launceston Facebook group that claims to expose criminals.
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The anonymously run Launceston Criminals Exposed has attracted thousands of "likes" and was shut down recently before reappearing this week.
Its stated aims "is to name and shame all this scum in the ice-ridden city".
But people posting to the site have complained that it is identifying youth offenders, publishing unfounded allegations and highlighting historical crimes where offenders have already done their time.
In response the site's administrator said the legal system doesn't always deal "the appropriate punishment".
But Lawyers Alliance spokesman and barrister Greg Barns described the site as a form of "crude vigilantism".
"Sites like this fail to realise that once a person has completed a jail term they are entitled to a level of privacy enjoyed by everyone. This [site] leads to harassment," he said.
"Facebook and social media have got to take a bigger response."
Mr Barns said such sites could incite people to commit acts of vigilantism on offenders and Tasmania Police should be cracking down on the page.
Police said they were aware of the page which it said posted information from the public record.
"Anyone who has concerns about the content of any Facebook page should report it to Facebook," a police spokesman said.
"Under Facebook's community standards the page will be reviewed and any required action taken.
Neither Facebook nor Launceston Criminals Exposed administrators responded to questions put by The Examiner.