Removing threads about police investigations

[GenderRealistBloke]

Hi MNHQ,

Please could you explain a bit more about when/how you remove threads about things under police investigation.

Prior to an arrest warrant, arrest or charge, contempt of court concerns don't arise.

Is it related to the subject matter, or other concerns like libel, for example?

A couple of recent deletion messages give the impression you remove threads when something is under police investigation. That seems overly-broad and would prevent threads on all sorts of things of serous public concern, eg Sarah Everard could not have been discussed at any point from her disappearance (when police started investigation) until conviction (and again not if there were an appeal). That seems over broad.

(Request to other MNers: This is inspired by a recently-removed thread, but please don't post about the substance of that matter or this post itself may be removed!)

Thank you.

I totally agree with you, and it was 2 threads, someone posted a thread asking why it was deleted. A person on the original thread had boasted how they would get it deleted. Do they want to lose the regulars on that board ?
I am sure we're not the only 2 people pissed off about it.

Hello @GenderRealistBloke we generally look at this on a case-by-case basis. We don't remove all threads that are under investigation or those discussing an active case.

As you mentioned, contempt of court concerns typically arise after an arrest warrant is issued, someone is arrested, or charged. Prior to these events, contempt of court isn't usually an issue. However, once proceedings become "active," any public discussion that risks prejudicing the investigation or any upcoming trial could be contemptuous. Libel is also a consideration though we have a process in place for formal complaints.

Our apologies for the broad deletion message - you're welcome to drop us a line if you have questions about any deleted thread.

Hi @BeckyAMumsnet — thanks very much for explaining.

In the recent cases the deletions felt over-cautious to me (unless they took a very bad turn after I last saw them), but I appreciate your explanation.

It might be worth changing your deletion wording to something like “…as there are legal risks if this becomes an active case” or similar. Otherwise it does give the impression that anything the police are investigating is out of bounds.