City | 5:00 pm | February 26, 2013 | By Michelle Hackman

Facebook removes tribute pages to Sandy Hook

Facebook has agreed to remove several so-called “tribute pages” for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting over concerns that the pages were being used to exploit the tragedy.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal LAW ’73, Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Elizabeth Esty wrote a joint letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg yesterday morning asking that the pages be immediately taken down, after they said Facebook had ignored the requests of individual Newtown families to do the same. They expressed concern that some of the pages, purportedly designed to mourn the lives lost on Dec. 14, were being used to harass victims’ family members and to commit financial fraud through soliciting charitable donations.

Blumenthal announced in a press release that Facebook responded later that day, saying it would begin removing the offending pages immediately.

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