Alexandra police warn they will look at whether they can close down Facebook accounts if they get more instances of people arranging fights via social media.
A proposed fight between a 42-year-old Alexandra man and a group of teenagers was arranged through Facebook to take place at a rural area near Alexandra on Sunday afternoon, Central Otago police sub area supervisor Senior Sergeant Ian Kerrisk said.
Police were advised and spoke to the man at the site, who was ''given advice about the consequences if he chose to continue with his intended actions'', Snr Sgt Kerrisk said.
''To his credit, he took that advice on board and left the area.''
Several cars containing teenagers were also stopped by police in the area and although the occupants denied knowledge of any proposed fight, they were given the same advice as the 42-year-old man, Snr Sgt Kerrisk said.
He declined to reveal the location of the proposed fight and had no further details on the nature of the dispute.
''This is something that police will not tolerate. If we become aware of people trying to set up fights via Facebook we will investigate with the view of putting those involved before the courts. We will also look at whether we can request a review of their account by Facebook staff,'' he said.
''We don't need to do that in this case, because obviously nothing happened, but it's an option we would pursue in the future if a fight happened which was organised through social media.''
Such an occurrence was ''unusual'' in Alexandra and he was only aware of one other proposed fight in the area arranged through Facebook, which involved two individuals, Snr Sgt Kerrisk said.
That matter was dealt with by the parents of the two individuals concerned.
